Lost Heroes
by TheStorySinger
Summary: This is the story of Severus Snape's sister. Another story of an untold character and her adventures through Hogwarts and the Wizarding Wars. Another story of a Slytherin that acted with Gryffindor bravery. Another story of a lost hero.
1. Chapter 1

Arran followed her brother as they navigated Kings' Cross. Her short stature did not help her when trying to keep Severus in sight, but before she knew it they had arrived at the barrier. She took a deep breath to clear her nerves. Despite her brother having attended Hogwarts last year, she was still nervous about what it would be like to actually _be _there. Learning the magic and exploring the castle herself.

"Come on Arran," Severus told her. "We don't want to miss the train and I still need to find Lily."

"I'm here, I'm here. It's not my fault I'm short and that you had a growth spurt."

"Midget." He laughed.

Arran scowled. It was true. Although both their parents and Severus were quite tall, Arran was short for her age. Her scowl disappeared as Severus pushed his trolley through the brick wall in between platforms 9 and 10. He vanished at the same time that he would have hit the wall. Tightening her grip on the handle of her own trolley, Arran ran at the wall, her eyes squeezed shut as, despite herself, she braced for an impact that never came. As she opened her eyes, she gasped in wonder.

Living in the muggle world had never bothered Arran. Her parents had never been ones to set rules on when she and Severus came and went from the house. They had basically grown up walking around Spinner's End and, as they got older, Cokeworth. The only magical place she had gone was Diagon Alley, and that had been amazing. All of the shops, the streets bursting with magic. Everything had amazed Arran and Platform 9 3/4 was similar. Everywhere she looked, there were signs of magic. The older students, 7th years, were using magic, some already studying for exams. Cats, owls, and toads were running around or screeching in their cages. Returning students were catching up with friends they hadn't seen all summer. Families were saying goodbye. Mothers and Fathers crying as their children prepared to leave for months. Arran closed her eyes and breathed in. She could feel the magic, a silent thrumming in her soul. Smiling, she followed Severus as he walked through the crowds.

They finally reached the train and between the two of them, were able to lift both their trunks up onto the train. Once they were on the train, Arran left Severus to find Lily Evans, his best friend, while she searched for a compartment of first years. It only took her a few minutes to find one. Inside were three people, two boys and a girl. One of the boys had brown hair and light blue eyes while the other had black hair and gray eyes. The girl had blond hair and pale green eyes. Arran smiled as she entered the compartment.

"Do you mind if I sit here?", she asked. The girl shook her head while the other two shrugged.

"Hi, I'm Arran Snape." Arran said, deciding to break the silence they seemed to be sitting in. Luckily, the girl didn't seem to mind.

"Hello, my name's Valarie Greengrass,", the girl said. "That's William Shafiq," she pointed to the brown haired boy, "and that's Regulus Black," a gesture to the black haired one.

"So, are you a pureblood?", William asked. Arran bristled.

"No, I'm a halfblood. Is that a problem?"

The three first years glanced at each other. Arran waited for the order to leave. She wasn't stupid, she had recognized the names as families in the Sacred 28, but she usually liked to talk to someone before reaching conclusions. Especially, when it was assuming a child was the same as their parents.

"Actually, it doesn't.", Regulus finally said. Her eyes widened, but she said nothing about it instead changing the topic.

"So, do any of you guys like Quidditch?"

* * *

The four of them talked for the rest of the ride. All of them stayed away from topics that were "political" and simply talked about kid stuff. Things like Quidditch, what they were looking forward to at Hogwarts, their hobbies, what houses they wanted to be in. The trolley lady came after about an hour and they all go sweets. Arran and Regulus both got Peppermint Toads and Chocolate Frogs, Valarie got Sugar Quills and Bertie Bott's, and William got Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes. The next time the compartment door opened it was a prefect telling them they should get changed. Arran and Val, as she insisted they call her, left for the boys to change and then they switched, allowing Arran and Val to change.

At last, the train arrived at Hogwarts, or more specifically Hogsmead. As a group, they left the train and followed the voice calling first years. Arran saw Severus and Lily, who she had finally met that summer, heading with the returning students. He gave her a half-smile as their eyes met before turning away. She didn't miss the glance another returning student gave Regulus, most likely an older sibling, although Regulus didn't return the smile. Before she knew it they were loading themselves into the boats at the shore of the Black Lake. Arran and Val sat at the front while Will and Regulus sat behind them. She listened as their guide, the gameskeeper Hagrid, told them what was happening. Before long, they saw the castle for the first time.

It was breathtaking. A huge castle that sat on a hill over the lake. It had three large towers and a few smaller ones, all reaching toward the dark sky full of stars. Many of the windows were lit and cast a yellowish glow into the quiet night. That along with the moon and stars visible over the lake was a beautiful picture. Arran wanted to paint it the minute she took everything in.

Ever since she was a kid, Arran had had an ability with the arts. She had played the piano in school and had loved to draw, paint, and sketch since she could start taking in the beauties of the world. At that moment, she was incredibly glad she had remembered to bring the few pencils and sketch paper she had.

Once they had docked and everyone had gotten out of the boats, Hagrid lead the first years into the castle. There they met a stern looking women. She was dressed in green robes with a similarly colored witch's hat. Her black and gray streaked hair was pulled back into a bun and her piercing eyes swept over the group. After thanking Hagrid, she addressed the first years.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses, " Professor McGonagall said. "The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to which ever house becomes yours. "

"In a few minutes I will return for you and the Sorting Ceremony will begin," she ended.

Arran looked around and saw many of her peers looked very nervous, some even frightened. Her new friends were some of the only ones that didn't look nervous, except for Regulus, who was quite pale.

"I wonder what house we'll all be in," she wondered aloud.

"Slytherin, definitely," Will said and Val nodded along. Regulus was quiet, but she put it down as his nerves.

As some of the students near the front began taking with some ghosts that had just entered, Arran thought through each house. She was quite sure she wouldn't be in Gryffindor. Despite begin brave-ish, she didn't think she was very outgoing or chivalrous or reckless. Hufflepuff was also out, she was hard-working yes, but not very truthful, in fact she was a very good liar. That left Ravenclaw and Slytherin. To be honest, she didn't have any problems with them. She was certainly intelligent and bright as well as being cunning and ambitious. She supposed that Slytherin had a slight step up because Severus was in it.

By the time she was done musing about the houses, McGonagall had reappeared and told them to follow her.

They entered the Great Hall and, for the second time that day, Arran was struck by the beauty of magic. The hall was very grand with five tables, four facing the grand windows opposite the doors, and one perpendicular to them on a slightly raised platform. It wasn't until she looked up though, that she gasped. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside. Hundreds of candles were also floating above them, creating a star-like look. She barely noticed that they had reached the steps up and had stopped when she heard a voice break through her thoughts. It was a hat that was speaking, singing really.

_Over a thousand years ago,_

_on a certain day._

_The Founders spelled me to know,_

_where each student should stay._

_The Founders four enchanted me,_

_to split each class into four._

_According to the traits I see,_

_and what lies in the students' core._

_They might be brave and reckless,_

_so they go to Gryffindor._

_Or they could be cunning and ambitious,_

_and go to Slytherin._

_Then there is the third of Hufflepuff,_

_that claims those of honest and good heart._

_And for those made of intelligent stuff,_

_their adventures in Ravenclaw will start._

_So put me on and let me see inside your mind,_

_and see the traits you possess._

_And all hat I can find,_

_then your house I will profess._

The hall burst into applause, and Arran joined them pondering what it had said. She smiled as she thought that just a few years ago, the idea of a singing hat was ridiculous. She wanted to continue looking around, but at that point the Sorting had started.

"Archer, Mason!" Professor McGonagall called. A tall boy with blond hair made his way to the stool and the Professor lowered the hat on his head. After a minute the had called, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Black, Regulus!" Regulus made his way from Arran's left up to the stool. He sat on the stool for over three minutes until the hat called, "SLYTHERIN!" He made his way of the stool to the Slytherin table that was cheering and clapping. Arran tuned out the next few students until "Greengrass, Valarie!" was called. After a minute, she too was sorted into "SLYTHERIN!" Once again, the table jumped up to welcome Val to their house. She sat down across from Regulus. The next person that Arran payed attention to was Will. He joined Val and Regulus and the table less than a minute later, taking the seat next to Regulus. He gave Arran a small smile as he passed. Then it was here too.

"Snape, Arran!" She made her way past the remaining students to the stool. Her hands were shaking very slightly, and she curled them into fists to stop them. She took a seat and then the Hat was lowered onto her head. She jumped as a voice sounded in her head.

_"Hmmm, very interesting..." _the Hat said(?). "_You are correct, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff don't suit you..."_

_"Wait, are you reading my mind or simply viewing my thoughts?" _I thought back.

"_Ohh, so you are smart are you? I can see your thoughts, your experiences, and part of your future..." _the Hat replied. "_At least I can feel what would happen depending on which house you were put in...now let me see..."_

_"You are an intellectual that is true, but I see something else inside you...a talented liar are you. Very sly and cunning...yes it better be SLYTHERIN!" _the last word was shouted out to the hall. I smiled as the hat was lifted off my head and headed for the table, taking a seat next to Val. Serverus, farther down the table, gave me a small smile and a nod before turning back to his friends. A few of the older students reached out to congratulate me. Regulus gave me a half-smile and said:

"Welcome to the snake pit."

* * *

Dinner past quickly and Arran tuned out Dumbldore's speech on start of term notices. Afterward, the prefects lead the first year Slytherins down to the dungeons. They stopped at a dead end wall.

"This is the entrance to the common room," the prefect said. "Just say the password and the door will open. It changes every two weeks, so make sure to check the notice board inside. Girls dormitory is on the left, boys on the right. _Salazar."_

The wall melted away to reveal a doorway. The prefects entered first and then the first years slowly entered. Val and Arran were among the first to enter. Arran let out a gasp. It was _amazing._ There was a slight green tinge to the room and when they first entered there were two doors across from the entrance, presumably the dormitories. To the left was a large space with two fireplaces with coaches and chairs around each. The furniture was made of black leather with green and silver carpet throughout the room. The tables scattered around the couches were made of glass and dark wood. On the left was a staircase that turned up to go over the entrance door and leading to an upstairs area. The upstairs loft had bookcases and tables and chairs for studying and homework. Around the every wall but the one with the dormitories on it, were tall ceiling to floor windows that looked out into the murky lake.

Arran and Val made their way into the girls dormitory with the two other first year girls. The dorm room was the first around the corner and had a silver one on the dark wood. Inside were four four-poster beds bedecked in green and silver. There were three windows on each side, with the beds in between. Opposite the entrance was another door that lead into a bathroom. Each bed had a small dresser at the foot and a side table to the left.

All four girls were too tired to do much more than get ready for bed. Arran turned to her left to look out a window. Thinking through her day, she smiled as she thought of the three friends she had made, the adventures that were sure to come, and for the first time that day, Arran was not nervous.

* * *

**AN:**

**Hey, welcome to my first fanfic. I started reading fanfiction a few years ago and have been creating worlds in my head for Harry Potter ever since. I hope you enjoy it and please leave a review, good or bad, I'd love some comments on my writing.**

**Notes on this FanFic:**

**This will be a Regulus/OC fic and will hopefully go through their entire years all the way through DH. Since I probably won't get a chance in the actual fic, Arran has dirty blond hair and black eyes (like Severus). Her wand is yew and unicorn hair, rigid, 11 3/4 inches. Also, I'll probably be skipping over second and third year and combine them into one chapter and this will be the only first year chapter. I feel like nothing really happens that will define the characters until their fourth year (Marauders' fifth). I will try to update every week, but they may be a bit sporadic.**

**Disclaimer: All rights to the amazing J.K. Rowling, except for my OCs. Parts of McGonagall's speech are from ****_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone._**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here is another update! I did this earlier than I planned, but I can't get the story out of my head. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Arran made her way to the carriages with Val, Will, and Regulus. It was September 1 and the start of their second year. It seemed as though first year had past in a blur. One moment they had been being Sorted into Slytherin, then, in the blink of an eye, they had been heading home for the summer holidays. The end of year exams had past without much stress on the side of the four Slytherins, with Arran and Regulus the top two and Val and Will finishing in the top 10. After two months of only communicating though letters, they had spent the entire train ride exchanging stories of their summers. Now, as they headed to the castle, Arran smiled, excited for her second year of magical education.

* * *

Arran and Val headed out of History of Magic, trailing behind the two boys. They had been arguing since the class had began.

"I just don't know how you can enjoy that class!" Val exclaimed.

"It's History! How could I not?" Arran responded. "Everything that happens now can be related to things that happened in the past. It's so interesting."

"Are you two done arguing? We still want to show you that thing we found," Regulus asked. The two girls looked up and saw that Will and Reg and stopped walking.

"Also, we have to hurry. We only get an hour for our break and once you see what we're showing you, you won't want to leave." added Will, a slight smirk on his face.

The girls sighed, but followed as Reg lead them down toward the basement. The boys had taken to exploring the castle at night this year and all week had been going on and on about this great discovery. It had taken Val promising to do their Herbology essays (her best subject) and Ara promising to do their Charms notes (one of her best). Now, the preteens headed down toward where the Hufflepuff common room was.

"You better not be showing us the Puffer's common room," Val remarked. "We already found that last year."

"Val!" Arran reprimanded. "Don't call them 'Puffers'."

"Don't worry, its better than that," Will reassured them. "And we're here."

They had stopped in from of a portrait that showed a bowl of fruit. Other paintings were scattered throughout the long hallway each showing different famous Hufflepuffs from history. The boys were looking intently between the portrait before them and the two girls, however they had gone back to their original argument.

"See! All of these famous people," Ara exclaimed. "That one over there. Ansel Bloodstone, famous potioneer and Hufflepuff. And that guy over there created the _silencio_ charm. Said he was tired of all of his children yapping."

"Just because they invented or researched things doesn't mean that I have to know them. Plus, Binns doesn't tell us any of this stuff. He just drones on and on about the Goblin Wars and the Giant Revolts." Val refuted.

The boys exchanged an incredulous look.

"Val, Ara, this is what we wanted to show you," Reg said.

"What a stupid picture of fruit?" Ara asked. "If I wanted to see that I would have gone to Lunch instead of skipping through the halls with you two!"

"No, you don't understand," countered Will. "Watch this!"

He reached out and brushed his fingers against the pear in the picture. Then, to both the girls confusion, he tickled it. The painting swung open and revealed an arch way. As they glanced inside, they saw many small figures running around four long, familiar tables. A delicious smell was wafting in, the smell of roasted chicken and fresh vegetables.

"Dear Merlin!" exclaimed Val.

"No way!" whispered Ara. "You found the kitchens!"

Both boys smirked and lead the way into the large room. It was a replica of the Great Hall with only a few changes. All along the walls were counter tops the house-elves were using to prepare dishes. The five tables in the Great Hall were in the same place as they would. The ceiling wasn't the usual sky and candle scene, but it had geometric designs and beautiful curves and filigree. Dozens of house-elves rushed around carrying plates and platters full of food. Some were cooking more food on the counter tops, some were placing food on the tables, and some were just directing others. One house-elf came up to the four Slytherins and addressed them.

"How cans Pipsy helps yous?" the small house-elf asked.

Reg answered for them, "Oh, just some chocolate cake if you're not too busy."

Pipsy smiled and nodded. She hurried over to the corner and grabbed a plate of four small chocolate cakes before bring it to them and gesturing to the tables. They all expressed their thanks and then went and sat at the Slytherin table. They chatted for a bit as the two boys shared their other discoveries from night time wanderings.

* * *

Reg and Ara were walking from to the Library from Potions. Val and Will had left early to go to the Hospital Wing, Will was not the best at Potions, when they ran into a group of Gryffindors. On the average day, this wouldn't have been a problem, the two groups would have passed each other with nothing more than a few taunts about the upcoming Quidditch day. One or two might try to jinx Reg due to his position as Seeker, but it wouldn't have been very bad. However, this particular group had four particular Gryffindor third years.

The Marauders had already been established as THE pranksters. Every week something would go off and McGonagall would go off on them during the next meal. More often than not, those pranks were directed at Slytherins. Now, though, everyone tensed as the Marauders stopped in font of Reg and Ara.

"Hey, Reggie," smirked Sirius Black. "Coming back from your Dark Arts lesson in the dungeons?"

Regulus bristled, but it was Ara that countered, "What about you, Black? Done cursing innocent first years?"

James Potter frowned, "Oh, lookie here boys. Its _Snivellus's_ little whittle sister." The other Marauders laughed.

"Don't call her that!" Reg said. "What do you want Sirius?"

"What, I don't get to talk to my little brother after class?" Sirius simpered. His smirked grew as Reg bristled.

"Don't mind them, Reg. Come on, Val and Will are waiting for us." Ara addressed Reg, pulling his arm to lead him away.

"You can run now, Reg, but I'll get you at the game!" called Sirius.

Both Slytherins ignored him as they made their way up the stairs to the Library. The encounter had shaken them both, though for different reasons. Arran was outraged over their use of "_Snivellus_". The Marauder's had taken to using the nickname as much as they could around her after a certain incident last year. Regulus was disappointed at both Sirius's words and his threat. He had long since known he and his brother wouldn't be as close as they had been, but he had hoped they could at least be civil. Unbeknownst to him, this would be one of the most civil conversations they would ever have after starting Hogwarts.

* * *

It was the first day of classes in their third year. Reg, Val, Will, and Ara were sitting at the Slytherin table. Both Val and Will were practically dead to the world, as they were not morning people, and Ara had taken it upon herself to make them cups of tea in the morning. They all looked up to see Slughorn passing out schedules. When he got to the four third years, he smiled.

"Excited to start your electives, I'm sure," he said with a smile. "This year I hope to see all of you at my Slug Club meetings."

Reg smiled and nodded before taking his schedule. He glanced at it then passed it to Ara who passed him Val's, who passed Ara's to Will. As they compared schedules, they saw they mostly has the same classes, except for the electives. Regulus was taking Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. Val and Will were both taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Ara was taking Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies.

"Why are you taking Muggle Studies?" Valarie asked. "Don't you live in the muggle world?"

"Yes, but it's important to get both sides of a story. Plus, it'll be an easy O." Arran replied. "And the other subjects didn't interest me."

"What about Magical Creatures doesn't interest you?" Regulus asked. Lowering his voice he added, "And I would have taken it too Val, if you know, I wouldn't be killed for doing so."

Will laughed at Val's frown. While none of them believed in blood purity, and all of them respected muggle culture, Val didn't think it was necessary for witches and wizards to learn it if they had no interest in going into the muggle world.

They had gone through three years of adventures, detentions, and exams. All of them were close and they were looking forward to becoming closer as they entered the next five years of education and the next hundred of life.

* * *

Arran hurried up the staircase after Potions. It was two weeks before final exams and with all of her elective classes, she had been slacking off on her other subjects, Potions being one of them. Carefully dodging the trick step on the staircase and taking a sharp left, Arran practically ran into the Library. Every year she memorized her brother's schedule and she was quite sure that he would still be in the Library for his break. Glancing around at the tables and weaving her way through the bookshelves, she finally spotted Sev at a table along with Lily Evans, his best friend. Approaching them, she immediately asked her question.

"Hey, Sev. Is Polyjuice considered finished before or after you add the part of whoever you're turning into?" she asked.

Looking up, he considered the question, "I'd say no. The human sample is still considered an ingredient, so the potion isn't finished until all the ingredients are added."

"I disagree. When you add the human sample, there are no other things you have to do, and the potion can be stored before it has been added without any complications." Lily countered from next to Severus.

"That's two answers to my question. I only needed one," Arran said. "And now I'm just confused." she said under her breath.

"I see your point Lily," Severus added. Addressing Arran he said, "I guess it would be dependent on what you consider to be the qualifications of a finished potion that don't include ingredients."

Arran smiled. Thanking them, she hurried out of the Library to the common room, intent on a night of studying.

* * *

**AN:**

**I know its shorter than the last one, but I wrote this the very next day, and have started chapter three already, so cut me some slack. As with all my chapters, any reviews would be welcome, good or bad, and if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I'm really excited for this story and have an idea of what I want to happen. I should get another update up within the next week! Next chapter should be fourth year and then after that the years will be multiple chapters long. I just want to get to the more mature parts and the death eaters are only building numbers and support right now in my story.**

**Also, I have a question. I've been thinking of changing to first person POV and was wondering what other people thought. I keep finding my self using the wrong pronouns and just think it would be easier. Just a thought.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited! It's nice to know that people actually like my writing.**

**Disclaimer: All rights to J.K. Rowling, except for my OCs.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: This is the first chapter that has cuss words, FYI. The characters are getting older and if you haven't noticed, teenagers today cuss a lot The fic was rated T for a reason, so if you have a problem don't read.**

It was the end of Arran's fourth year. Both third and fourth year had passed with fun parties and easy exams, and now that the final exams were over she was quite content to sit back and relax. As she entered the common room, she was reminded that while her exams were over, some people still had exams to finish. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s still had two days, and Care of Magical Creatures and Divination for everyone else were all still to come. Still, at least she didn't have to worry about them.

After she had dropped her bag off in her dormitory, Arran made her way to the Loft, the second floor for studying, and took a seat by Regulus and Valarie. Both of them had their Care books opened before them and were hurriedly reading through their notes. Lifting her feet onto the empty chair at the table and leaning back, she smirked at them.

"Having fun guys?" she asked slyly.

"Fuck you." Regulus replied tersely. Valarie not even deigning to respond. Arran laughed and put her hands behind her head.

"This is why you should have taken Muggle Studies," she responded, and though it was only a joke, Regulus shot her a sharp look. "Right, sorry. You are better alive than dead."

"Why does that sound like a question?" demanded Regulus.

"Shut up the both of you. Not all of us can skate by with just reading the book," Valarie snapped. Regulus and Arran sent her and each other dark looks, before Regulus turned back to his notes. Arran sighed. Rising, she headed to the nearest bookshelf, running her finger along the spines as she searches for something to read. Finally selecting a book, she settled back into her seat for a nice read when they were interrupted again.

Will had run up the stairs, pushing Arran's feet to the ground before throwing himself into the chair. Arran frowned, but didn't look up.

Will said, "Why are all the copies of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ checked out?"

"Probably, because both the Care O.W.L. and the regular exams are still to come." Arran answered without looking away from her book.

"How do you know that? You aren't a fifth year and you don't even take the class." Regulus asked, joining in the conversation.

"I nicked a schedule off a sixth year prefect."

"Ah, that explains it." Regulus said at the same time the Valarie exclaimed, "Arran!"

Will snickered, "And that's why Valarie will be getting a prefect's badge next year and Arran won't."

"No, she'll get it. Top of the class, nice to Hufflepuffs, plus I don't want it and the only other choices are Amanda Bulstrode and Patricia Parkinson." Valarie shuddered. "And don't call me Valarie," she added.

Arran smiled and returned to her book as her friends continued to bicker about prefects and exams. It was sad summer was coming so soon.

* * *

The next day, Arran had three unfortunate encounters. The first had been at the Library. Despite having finished her exams, Arran had found three Library books around her bed and had decided to return them. She was looking around at the bookshelves while Madam Pince delt with a particularly difficult fifth year. She was just turning around when she bumped into someone. Both of their books fell to the ground in an avalanche.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized. Crouching down, she started picking up her books when the person she had run into spoke. She froze at the familiar voice.

"Don't be, " Remus Lupin said. "I wasn't watching were I was going."

Looking up, their eyes met. His eyes widened and he took a step back. Arran sighed. The age old Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry was always going to make things awkward. Quietly, she picked up her books. As she turned to leave, she heard him speak.

"Why aren't you hexing me?" he asked. "Or at least yelling about how my blood is corrupting you?"

Arran looked at him incredulously. "You know, for all the tales of how Slytherins treat you guys wrongly, it is only a select few that actually view the world as you think we all do."

Lupin furrowed his brow, "What do you mean 'view the world as you think we all do'?"

"I mean that I don't care about your blood, Lupin." Arran said. "I frankly couldn't care less, and yet you still think I am going to curse you for something that was partially my fault."

"What of your friends though?" countered Lupin. "Are you saying that Shafiq, Greengrass, and Black don't care about the fact that I'm a half-blood? That my parents have dirtied the purity of wizards?"

"I can't speak for them, but let me ask you this. Have you asked them? Or have you simply assumed that since they were sorted into Slytherin at 11, they are automatically blood purists? What of you friend Black? If he had been sorted into Slytherin would you view him with the same disdain that you view his brother, even if his personality was the same?"

Arran gave him a smirk as she took her books and walked toward the now free Madam Pince. As she walked, she looked back. He was staring at the bookshelf with a _look_ on his face. Smiling she returned her books and practically skipped down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The next weird encounter that Arran had was during the Divination exam. Since she didn't take the class, she had a free period. She decided to spend the time outside by the lake. Other students that were finished with exams or simply waiting for their last one tomorrow were also sitting under trees and beside the lake. She settled down underneath a willow tree that she and her friends often hung out by and pulled out her sketch pad. Arran hadn't drawn as much since starting Hogwarts, but she made a point to always draw one scene from each year. This year it was the Slytherin common room, with students scattered about.

Arran soon found herself in a rhythm; each stroke blocking out more of the world around her. It was just when she had finished the seventh and fifth years studying in the Loft when she looked up and found that the sky had darkened and many students had already gone inside. Sighing, she started to pack up her pencils and closed her sketch pad.

"You're really good, you know." A voice called from behind her. Startled, Arran spun around, but she didn't see anything. She looked around for any student who could have spoken, but the closest people would have had to shout to get her attention.

"Up here!" the voice spoke again. Slowly, Arran looked up at the willow tree. There on the second lowest branch was a girl. She was sitting with her legs stretched out on the branch and her hands folded into her lap. Arran studied her and vaguely recognized her from some of her classes. The girl had short, curly brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her hazel eyes were studying Arran with the same intensity that Arran did her. Deciding to break the silence, Arran spoke.

"Not really, " Arran said quietly. "I don't get much practice."

"You are, don't try to deflect the compliment or I'd think you were a Gryffindor." Arran bristled, the girl just smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the wonderful, brilliant, and all around awesome Octavia Hall."

Arran furrowed her brow, but held out a hand and replied, "I'm Arran Snape."

The girl smiled and jumped down from the branch to shake her hand. Now that she was standing, Arran could clearly see her yellow and black tie, marking her as a Hufflepuff.

After shaking her hand, Octavia gave Arran another smile, "Well, it was nice to meet you Arran. I'll see you around next year I guess."

With that, Octavia left. Arran watched her skip up the the castle doors with a bemused expression. It was certainly weird for any student to approach Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were among the ones that only did when in desperate times. Shaking her head, Arran began the trek back to the castle for dinner.

The final encounter Arran had that day was much more personal. It was late at night, and almost everyone was in bed. Arran had been trying to sleep, but had woken up. After weeks of going to sleep late after hours of studying, it was hard to break the routine. Finally giving up, Arran made her way down the hall and into the common room. She was surprised when she saw her brother, Severus, sitting at a table in the Loft. He was usually one to retire early. Deciding to go catch up with him after exams, she headed up the stairs. She was only two tables away when she heard the voices.

"Too bad schools ending soon. Not much we can do out in the real world to those filthy mudbloods."

"Yeah, though on the bright side we won't have to see all of those blood-traitors and mudbloods for two months."

Arran saw the dark head of hair that she was sure was Sev nod along with the two others. She recognized the voices from around the common room, Mulciber and Avery, two die hard blood purists. She had seen her brother with them a few times, but had always assumed that, with a muggleborn best friend, it had only been for class assignments. There was no denying now, however, that the three were close. The conversation just got worse the longer it went on.

"Have you heard what some alum have done?" Avery asked.

"No, what's going on?" That was Mulciber.

Severus answered him, "Some have joined up."

"Wait, joined with _them_?" Mulciber confirmed. It must have been something they had talked about since both her brother and Avery seemed to know what he was talking about. Unfortunately, Arran was neither stupid nor unobservant. She knew exactly what they were talking about.

The last few years had seen the rise of a group of blood supremacists. They had started small with political rallies and gatherings, but over the last year they had started to take bigger risks. Finally, two months ago they had attacked St. Mungos targeting mudbloods and blood traitors that were there. Not many people were still talking about it, most thinking it was simply going to blow over. As a Slytherin, Arran knew better. It wasn't noticeable unless you were observant, but you could tell many Slytherins supported the group. It was an undertone in the groups that talked late at night. Like this one.

Unable to listen to more, Arran silently moved back down the stairs and hurried back to her dorm. She still wasn't able to go to sleep, but this time is was for a totally different reason.

* * *

The next afternoon, Arran found out just how much attention she _should _have given to her brother. It was before Lunch and she, along with almost everyone else, was outside. She was sitting with Regulus; Val and Will were inside studying for their Divination exam that afternoon. The O.W.L. students had just gotten out of their Defense theory and were scattered around the lake. Both her and Regulus were reading muggle fiction books, though they were charmed to look like history books, when a large cry came up from near them. Looking over, Arran saw that Black and Potter had cornered her brother and he was on the ground. Immediately, Arran jumped to her feet and was about to go over to help her brother, when Regulus grabbed her forearm.

"Don't," he said. "It will just make it worse for him."

"I have to at least try, he's my brother," Arran snapped back. Despite what she had overheard last night, he was still her brother and she would always protect him.

Regulus wasn't even phased, "He'll be better off without you butting in. Plus, Evans has got it under control."

He was right. Lily had left her own group of friends and was fighting with the Marauders. They listened as the four fought between them when they heard what would change everything.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Severus shouted for almost the entire school to hear. The two of them watched as Lily left the group and headed back to the castle with her friends hurrying after her. They watched as the Marauders continued to attack Severus, but they didn't go to help. Arran was disgusted with her brother at the moment. Disgusted with everyone who had been involved just now. The Marauders had tormented Severus for years just because of what he said first year on the train. Lily had thrown away _years_ of friendship for one word. Severus had called his best friend a mudblood because of peer pressure and fear. It was at that moment that Arran realized that everything was changing.

* * *

**AN: **

**Sorry for the long wait. I had to miss some days of school and was very busy trying to take some exams beforehand. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Lity: It's fine with me, if you could just forward any feedback to me.**


	4. Chapter 4

Arran still hadn't spoken to Severus since that last day of exams. He had tried talking to her the day before, but she had ignored him and gone to find Regulus. It had been three days since then and every time she had seen her brother she had felt both anger and guilt. Anger at what he had said and guilt that she wasn't talking to him. The weren't close, they hadn't been for years now, but they had always been there for each other. It was in the small smiles shared between classes and the glances across the Slytherin table.

Now it was the final day of school. In only two hours everyone would be boarding the Hogwarts express to go home for two months. The summer holidays were something that Arran was both excited for and dreading. She liked the holidays because she didn't have to stress about essays and tests. She hated them because she had to be _home._ It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Severus had it worse than she did.

Arran took after their mother, Eileen Snape, more than Severus did. She had the same dirty blond hair and black eyes. Severus had the same eyes, but the nose, mouth, and hair all were their father. It wasn't what they looked like, however, that made both of their parents hate them. Their father, Tobias, was a muggle and he hadn't found out about magic until his children started showing accidental magic. Eileen, their mother, was a pureblood witch from the Prince family. She had been the last heir, even if the family had thrown a fit about their last heir being a girl, but she had broken off contact with her family after marrying a muggle. Tobias hated his children when he found out about magic. He viewed _it_ as evil and _them_ as tainted. Because of their magic, their father hated both Severus, Arran, and their mother. Their mother on the other hand, only hated Severus. When she looked at him, she saw the man who abused her. When she looked at Arran, she saw the bright young witch she had once been.

Arran sighed, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She was in her dorm doing some last minute packing. All she had was already in the trunk on her bed, packed up neatly with books on the bottom, then clothes, etc. Val was already done and had headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Throwing her muggle clothes on the top of her trunk, Arran headed down to join her.

As she entered the Great Hall, she headed directly to where her three friends were seated, sitting down next to Regulus.

"Finally finished then?" Will asked as she sat down across from him.

"Yep," answered Arran, piling some food onto her plate. "What about you? I assume you and Reg are waiting until last minute like last year."

"Hey! Don't criticize. We are just...managing our time," he responded with a jab of his fork.

"Well," Val started. "If you guys packed earlier, we might not have to spend the first fifteen minutes every train ride trying to find a compartment."

The boys glanced at each other and shrugged. They obviously weren't as upset about that as the girls were. Sighing Val turned to Arran.

"So, got anything fun planned this summer?"

Arran shrugged, "Not really. I might try to find a job. You know, get out of the house, avoid Sev, earn some money..."

"Are you still not talking to him then?" Regulus asked. They hadn't talked much about what had happened unlike the rest of the school. All the friends knew what happened, but only Regulus knew why Arran wasn't talking to her brother. Of the four friends, only they truly understood what was going on outside of school.

"No," Arran responded shortly. It was still hard for her to think of what happened, not because it was particularly bad, but because she didn't know where it was coming from. She didn't want to think the question that was the source of her guilt. Had her brother really changed that much without her noticing?

It was silent between the fourth years before conversation started again. They steered clear of that topic and instead discussed their plans for the summer. Val was traveling to Sweden with her family for most of the summer, returning just in time for school shopping. Will was going to be "interning" with his father, seeing what he did as the head of the Shafiq family since Will was the heir. Regulus would be at home in London mostly, maybe visiting his cousins and other relatives. It wasn't long before the boys left to pack. Left alone, Val turned to Arran.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you all year now...has anyone caught your fancy?" she asked slyly, a small smirk present on her face.

Confused Arran said, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you like anyone? Like _like _like someone?" Val clarified incredulously. She hadn't know her friend was so clueless about this stuff.

"No, of course not!" Arran finally answered. Turning the tables on her friend she asked, "What about you?"

"Well, there is a sixth Ravenclaw who I saw in the Library the other day. Totally fit, but other than him, not really." Val seemed slightly disappointed at this. "I was hoping you would have something interesting that I could worm my way into, but alas..."

Shaking her head, Arran stood up and headed for the doors, Val following reluctantly behind.

* * *

Despite the boys late packing, they managed to find a compartment within ten minutes. Tossing their trunks up to the overhang they settled into the compartment, Regulus and Arran on the left and Val and Will on the right. The conversation from the carriages continued. Val and Arran were arguing over discussing the exams and school next year and discussing other things.

"I'm just saying that talking the exams through would do us good," Arran argued. "Give us a chance to prepare for the questions that we got wrong."

"I do not want to talk about school when we are literally leaving it," Val countered. "You can discuss school work and exams all you want in September."

Just then the compartment door opened. Startled they all looked up to see the Marauders standing outside their door. The Marauders themselves looked surprised before schooling their features into contempt. Smirking, Potter and Black moved into the compartment while Pettigrew and Lupin remained outside.

"Well, well, well...look what we have here," Black said. Scowling at his brother he continued, "I didn't think Slytherins were in the business of discussing anything other than the torture of muggleborns."

Arran scowled, "And I didn't think Gryffindors were in the business of harassing younger students."

"Hey, were all pretty evenly matched in age, so don't start on that mini _Snivillus_." Potter shot back. It was at that point that Lupin broke in.

"Everyone calm down," he said. "We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for a compartment. Obviously this one is full, let's just go guys."

"Wait just a moment," Black interrupted. "I want to have a little chat with my brother-dear."

Everyone stopped talking. Arran, Will, and Val all looked at Regulus while Lupin, Pettigrew, and Potter all looked at Black. The brothers hadn't talked in years, unless you count the rare taunt in the halls.

"Too bad for you," Regulus clipped back. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Look, I know you're Mother and Father's puppet, but you don't have to be."

"Not this again, I'm tired of saying it. I'm not you Sirius."

"I'm planning something, and you can join me if you stop thinking they love you."

"I'm not joining you on some half-assed plan of yours."

"Come on Regulus!" Sirius practically shouted. He was looking at Regulus like it was life or death. Regulus stared back with impassiveness.

Out of all the Slytherins, only Arran had heard some of the gory details about Regulus's relationship with his family. Regulus couldn't help loving his parents. He truly did love them, but that only made it so much easier to hate them to. He hated how they pushed their ideals, how they had children when they didn't want them, how they hated his brother for being himself. His brother was even more complicated. He was a true Gryffindor, outgoing, brave to the point of reckless, and stubborn. Regulus agreed with his brother on many points, but unlike his brother he wasn't brave. He couldn't voice his concerns for fear of retribution from his house and his family. Family was something Regulus fought for above all else. He didn't agree with the ideals of his family, but he also believed the family could change and be better.

Standing Arran addressed the Gryffindors, "I think you need to leave."

"Yeah, and we don't take orders from greasy snakes," Potter shot back.

"No Prongs, lets just go," Sirius said. "I can tell I won't change his mind. He's a blood purist that can't see reason."

"Oh, I can't see reason. I think you should take a look in the mirror Sirius," Regulus said standing as well. "Before you try to describe me."

Sending the fourth years glares, the Marauders filed out. Both Will and Val gave Regulus sympathetic looks, but the conversation had been killed. The compartment was silent until the trolley lady showed up 20 minutes later.

* * *

Arran followed Severus as they headed across the train station. Since they lived far away from London and their parents weren't _invested _in their magical education, the two siblings had to take the train to Cokeworth. From there they would walk back to Spinner's End. They still hadn't spoken when they finally took their seats on the train.

"Arran are you going to ignore me all summer?" Severus asked. Arran hadn't told him what she was mad at him for, but he had guessed. When she gave no response, he sighed and leaned back into his chair. "It would be nice if you could at least _pretend_ to understand."

Arran still said nothing, only leaning back into her seat.

"Look, if you just heard them out-"

"Are you crazy?!" Arran burst out, turning to look Severus in the eyes. "Hear them out? What like they wouldn't try to kill me first? And even if I did join up, all I am getting myself into is a painful life for the rest of my days. No, I will not _hear them out_, and you shouldn't have either."

Finished, Arran turned away to look out the window. Severus sighed and pulled out a book from his bag. Arran ignored him for the rest of the train ride and when they eventually got off the train, she made sure to walk ten paces ahead of him back to their house.

It was quiet when they got back. It was almost expected at this point. There father would most likely be at work or at the bar. Work if he had forgotten they were coming home today and the bar if he hadn't. Their mother would most likely be in her bedroom or the kitchen. Her bedroom would be if their father had remembered and decided to punish her for giving him magical children. The kitchen if he hadn't and she was working on dinner. Not even bothering to look for either of their parents, Severus and Arran headed up to their rooms.

Closing the door behind her, Arran sighed heavily. Coming home was always a big...event. Whether it was good or bad depended on the day. Dropping her truck by the door, she collapsed onto her bed. It was slightly dusty, as she hadn't returned home for any holidays, and the sheets were scratchier than the ones at Hogwarts, but if was a relief to get off her feet and to put her mind to ease. For just a moment, she could pretend that their were no blood supremacists, that their were no parents, and their were no arguments. For just a minute, she could simply be.

* * *

**AN:9**

**I know, I know. I'm late posting this. I've been pretty busy and the chapter didn't flow as well as the previous ones. I'll try to get the next one up within a week (we'll see if it happens). I think the it will be easier to write as I already have an idea and a lot of canon events are happening this summer. Reviews are welcome, good and bad. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Regulus's POV

Regulus's summer wasn't going about how he expected it to. The week they got back there was a large party, hosted by the Rosiers this year, to welcome all the pureblood kids back from school. After that, the summer was quiet. Almost Disturbingly quiet. His brother, who was almost always finding ways to rile up their mother had been silent recently, mostly locked in his room only coming out once or twice a day. This of course was part of the strange blanket of peace that had descended the house. Without Sirius and mother going at it everyday, there was no big commotion to disrupt the inhabitants of Number 12 Grimmuald Place. Regulus himself had spent the three weeks in his room or the Library for the most part. It seemed however, that peace was not a permanent thing and it was later that day that the silence was broken.

It had started at dinner. Their cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa, were coming over for dinner and so their mother made sure Sirius and Regulus were both present for the day. They started the evening in the parlor. Regulus had taken a seat in a corner, almost hidden by a bookshelf, while Sirius took a seat by the door. Bellatrix and Narcissa were seated on the love seat with their uncle and aunt seated across from them on the couch. All four of them were making polite conversation while the two boys were quiet, though for different reasons. Sirius was silent because he was imagining all the things he could be doing instead of this dinner. Regulus was silent because he was listening to the hidden conversation. The one behind the flowery formal language those talking were using.

"How have you girls been?" Walburga asked. "I feel like we haven't had you over in years!"

"I've been well, Aunt Walburga," Narcissa was the first to respond. "Mostly, I've been starting preparations for the wedding."

"Yes, I had heard of that. Congratulations, my dear. You are engaged to Lucius Malfoy, am I correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"Very fine young man," Orion cut in. "Abaraxus is a close friend of mine in the Ministry. Good family as well."

"And how about you Bellatrix?" Walburga asked, turning to the other sister. "How are you and Rodolphus fairing?"

Regulus remembered that Bellatrix had married Rodolphus Lestrange two years ago. It had been arranged, as far as he knew, to lessen the blow Andromeda's, the third Black sister, "parting" had caused on the family.

"We are well," She replied. "In fact, we have recently joined a...party of sorts together."

"Oh, and how has that been?"

"Very well. We are both deeply committed to it." Bellatrix said with a growing smirk on her face.

She had opened her mouth to perhaps say more, when Kreacher apparated into the room.

"Dinner is ready, Mistress," He said, dropping into a low bow.

With that, the six people stood, Sirius a bit late, and headed through to the dining room. It was only then that the silence that had been present in the house all summer was broken.

It was during dinner that the party Bellatrix had joined was revealed. She had joined the Death Eaters, the followers of the rising dark wizard. At first, Regulus didn't know what to think. He definitely didn't like or agree with what the Death Eaters did, but at the same time he knew their beliefs aligned with those of the Black family. Because of this, Regulus decided then and there that he would neither support nor criticize the choice to join. He would remain neutral to satisfy his own beliefs and those of his family. Of course, that was assuming he could last as long as the war. Unfortunately, Sirius had not come to the same conclusion.

"You what!?" He practically shouted, jumping up from his seat at the table. "How could you join a group of murderers?"

"They are working to purify wizarding culture from the taint of muggles, why would I not agree to fight for that?" Bellatrix responded. "And I am sure that he would welcome the Black family heir into his circle. Think of the honor you could bring our family Sirius."

"_Join them! _I'd rather die that follow that crazy psychopath-"

"How dare you call the Dark Lord that!?" Now both Bellatrix and Sirius were standing as they screamed at each other. Regulus almost pushed his chair back, cautious of any spells that might start flying, when he met his father's gaze. Orion gave a small shake, almost as a warning. Now, Regulus's mother was standing as she tried to reason with Sirius.

"Think of the glory, Sirius. Your past mistakes could be forgiven," She said, trying a softer approach Regulus had never seen her use.

"What mistakes have I made, Mother?" He countered with a sharp bite to his words.

"It is your duty to your family that you join, Sirius, and we will not take no for an answer!" Her calm facade had not lasted long.

"Well, you'll have to," Sirius said with finality. "I'm done here. I'm leaving."

"You can not abandon your family, Sirius!" Bellatrix screamed. No one seemed to notice that Narcissa, Orion, and Regulus were not talking. Sirius spun around and hurried up stairs, slamming his door behind him. Excusing himself, Regulus stood and headed upstairs.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he entered his brother's room. All around the walls were pictures of muggle women and red and gold. Pictures also decorated his walls and dresser, almost all of them had all four of the Marauders in them. Clothes and books were scattered around the floor. Carefully skirtting around a small pile of robes, Regulus headed toward Sirius's unmade bed, taking a seat. His brother was throwing clothes, books, and pictures into his school trunk.

"I already said it. I've had enough of mother and father pushing their ideas on me. I'll go stay with James or something." He said, in what was probably the nicest tone he had used with his brother in years. It was definitely the first time they had spoken civilly.

"So, you'll just leave. Abandon your family and life here." Regulus left out the most important part. Sirius was not only leaving the house, but also _Regulus._ The brother's won't close in the least, but Regulus still loved his brother.

"I have to," He replied. "You know...you could come with me. I'm sure the Potter's would love to have someone more behaved than me and Prongs."

"Sirius, I can't leave my family."

"So what, you believe them. You believe that people are better just because of their parents."

Not even waiting for a reply Sirius shut the top of his trunk. He headed out of his room and downstairs.

Regulus headed down the stairs, but he stopped on the landing overlooking the front door. His brother was facing his mother his trunk in one hand his wand in the other.

"Your family should be everything to you, Sirius," She said. "You may leave now, but you can never stop being a Black! Join them and you can bring honor to us."

"Go to hell!" He said.

The front door slammed shut with a loud bang.

* * *

Two weeks later and the house hadn't gotten any quieter. People seemed to be constantly coming and going. Regulus's cousins had been here almost every other day and his grandfather, the head of the family, Arcturus Black III had also come along with many aunts and uncles. The reason all of these people had come was because of Regulus's mother. She wanted to disown Sirius as both a Black and as heir. It was a complicated thing to do in pureblood families. The head of the family had to approve along with his heir. A meeting with the goblins of Gringotts had to be arranged to sign the papers. A new heir had to be appointed and every member of the family had to recognize this new heir. If even one person disagreed, they could challenge the new heir for the position, as long as they had a valid claim (a younger sibling, older cousin, younger uncle, etc).

Regulus watched as the door to the drawing room opened. His grandfather and parents had been talking in there for over an hour. Now, his mother motioned for him to come in. He entered and took the empty seat across from his grandfather and father. His mother stood by the back of the couch.

"Regulus as you know, your parents have put you up as the replacement for your brother," His grandfather started. "I believe that their decision is valid, so now I ask you. Do you want to be heir?"

"Consider the responsibilities before you decide, Regulus," His father warned. His mother shot her husband a glare.

"Think of the honor you could bring the family," She insisted.

"Hush, both of you. It is up to Regulus."

Regulus looked between the three. He thought about the question and for a second he felt angry. Angry with everyone, including himself. He was just barely fifteen! He wasn't supposed to be heir of one of the oldest pureblood families. He was supposed to be worrying about O.W.L.s and dating, not the family accounts and responsibilities of an heir. He was angry at his parents for pushing this decision on him. He was angry at Sirius for running away. And he was angry at himself that he couldn't say no. He believed in family, even if he didn't care for his parents or one of his cousins, he still loved and cared for the majority of the Blacks. He couldn't abandon them to whatever would happen if he didn't become heir.

"I do." He said.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Sirius was blasted off the family tree and disowned. Regulus and Arcturus traveled to Gringotts to sign the papers. To Regulus's surprise, no one protested his claim to be heir. He arranged a schedule with his grandfather and father, so he could train to be heir and started some lessons already. He didn't need to learn much more in the actual magic department, but rather in the regular going-ons of the family. It wasn't until the next Friday that things got out of control.

Bellatrix was back that night. Regulus's mother called him down to the foyer. Bellatrix was standing just inside the door a black cloak on, only giving a slight peak to the black robes beneath. Both of his parents were standing by her.

"Regulus, we must hurry if you don't want to be late," Bellatrix said.

Furrowing his brow, Regulus asked,"Late for what?"

"For your initiation, of course," Bellatrix answered. "For your first meeting of the Death Eaters."

"What?!"

"I have already promised the Dark Lord the heir of the Black family will join his followers. Since you are the new heir, I am bringing you to the meeting tonight."

"Regulus, you will be bringing honor and glory to the Ancient and Noble House of Black. You will serve the Dark Lord and purify the magical world," His mother said.

Suddenly, his mother was handing him black as night robes and a dark gray cloak. Bellatrix explained the situation to him as he shakily put the robes on. It seemed the world was moving in slow motion. He could hear Bellatrix speaking along with his mother, but he couldn't retain anything they told him. He didn't even notice that his father was silent. Regulus was guided out he door. He then felt the tug of apparition as Bellatrix side-along apparated him. They reappeared in front of a large manor. Even in his sluggish mind, he recognized it as Lestrange Manor, where Bellatrix and her husband lived. He was guided into the mansion and lead through the halls until they arrived at a set of grand doors. Bellatrix turned to him before they entered and finally the world speed up to real time.

"The Dark Lord will ask you questions to make sure you believe in the cause. He won't invade your mind today, but if he does don't resist, you have nothing to hide from him. Once you have assured him of your dedication, he will mark you. It will hurt, but don't show emotion or pain. Be strong and make the Black family proud, Regulus."

He nodded and she opened the door. There were only about 20 people in the room. All of them wore the same dark robes he now did, and they seemed to be surrounding one man in the center of the room. He was tall with dark hair and eyes. He had sharp, aristocratic features and stood tall in the room. His voice was smooth and rich.

"At last, the heir of the Blacks has come to join us," He said to the room at large. "Come here, Regulus."

Slowly, Regulus approached the Dark Lord. He tried not to show any emotion on his face, but inside he was trembling with fear and anger and regret. He didn't approve of the Death Eater's ideals. He believed blood had no affect on magic prowess. He believed that everyone deserved to live equally. Unfortunately, his beliefs didn't matter. He was going to either join the death eaters or he would die here. If he refused to join, he wouldn't survive surrounded by Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. It was survival instinct to answer the question posed with no hesitation. It was why he was sorted into Slytherin.

Once he had answered the questions, he offered his arm. The Dark Lord smirked, an expression full of power and almost delight. Pulling his want from his pocket, he pressed it to Regulus's left forearm. It was painful, like hundreds of burning hot needles pricking his arm through and through, but he didn't show any pain in his expression or posture. When the Dark Lord pulled his wand away, a black skull and snake was prominent on his arm. The Dark Lord motioned for Regulus to join the people behind them.

After that, Regulus returned to his mind. He was a Death Eater. He was part of a group of murderers. He was on the wrong side of the war. He was on the side against his friends, his brother, and his cousin. And there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

**AN:**

**Yes! I finished before I was supposed to update. Its longer that last chapter, so enjoy. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Reviews are also welcome, good and bad. Thank you and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

Arran's summer had passed with nothing significant happening. The only marginally fun thing she had done was draw, taking a few days every now and then to paint and sketch different things from around Cokeworth. Other than that, she hadn't spoken to Severus much that summer, but had gotten a job at a local restaurant that had payed rather well. It had also gotten her out of the house. Her father had only hit her once that summer, when he saw her wand poking out of her boots. The bruise on her shoulder was already healing as well. She had also been ignored by her mother, though it wasn't that odd nowadays.

She had traveled to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies a week before school started, using the money she earned to get herself some new robes and books, along with other school supplies and a few new pencils and a new sketch book. Now, she and Severus had arrived at Platform 9 and 3/4. Heaving her trunk up to the overhead shelves, Arran took a seat in an empty compartment. She was always the first to get to the platform of her friends due to the train schedule from Cokeworth to London. It wasn't long before Val arrived. Her hair practically bounced as she made her way to Arran, throwing her arms around her best friend.

"Oh, I've missed you," She said excitedly. "I have so much to tell you. The boys in Sweden are so fit. I met a few that showed me around. Plus, the sights were amazing."

"Slow down," Arran laughed. "I'm guessing you had a fun time then. When did you get back?"

"Just three days ago. And I definitely had a good time. The boys were able to show me a good time as well," She said with a smirk.

Arran shook her head at her friend before turning when she heard her name called. Will had shown up. He headed over to them as well.

"Hey guys," He addressed them both. "How were your summers?"

"Awesome." Val said.

"Boring." Arran answered.

Will laughed and gave both his friends a small hug before putting both his and Val's trunks up next to Arran's.

"Actually Arran, I was wondering if you had heard from Regulus," He asked, his face impassive.

Frowning, Arran shook her head,"Now that you mention it, I didn't get any letters from him all break. What about you guys?"

Both shook their heads.

"I'm worried something happened. My father was certainly not making the holidays easy," Lowering his voice, he continued, "He wanted me to join the Death Eaters."

Both girl's eyes widened at that. Arran was a halfblood, despite her brother's approval of the group, and Val was from a neutral family.

"What?! You said no, right?" Arran asked.

"Of course, but I think Regulus's family might have been asking him to, as well."

Val and Arran exchanged worried glances before the three friends took their seats in the train compartment. They talked for about 10 minutes before Regulus appeared at door. Giving them a tight smile, he put his trunk up and took a seat next to Will.

"Hey guys," Regulus greeted. "Good summers?"

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Kinda."

"How about you?" Arran asked. He shifted, twitching his left arm beneath his robes.

"Okay, Sirius left though," He said. Both Will and Val raised their eyebrows at that. They were both from pureblood families and understood the importance of that. Arran, however, was confused at their reaction.

"What's surprising about that? I mean we all knew he was bound to at some point," She said.

Will shook his head, "Sirius was the firstborn, the heir. It's a complicated process to appoint another heir once the original has been disowned or has left the family. Are you the heir now?"

Regulus nodded his head, explaining how Sirius had been disowned and he was the new heir of the Black family.

"Wow," Val said. "How was it after he left?"

"Loud," He said, frowning.

Arran furrowed her brow. Whenever Regulus went quiet or short with his friends it was a bad sign. She and Regulus had only talked a few times about their complicated families, but every time they had, it was always a difficult thing for Regulus to do. Val and Will seemed to take the hint and effectively turned the conversation to the Quidditch line ups this year.

"Hey, Arran," Val said a short time later. Shaking her head, she looked up at Val.

"Aren't you prefect this year?"

Arran's eyes widened and she jumped up from her seat, "Crap! I completely forgot. What time is it?"

"Five past eleven," Will answered. "When does the meeting start?"

"In ten minutes," Regulus responded, to their surprise. "What? I'm also a prefect this year," He added on, motioning to his badge.

In their rush to greet him, they hadn't even realized that on his uniform's shirt was a Slytherin prefect badge.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Will asked.

Banging her head on the window, Arran started muttering to herself. "Such a bad impression...first meeting...already late...don't deserve it..."

Laughing at her friends anxiety, Val reassured her, "Don't worry, you two will be fine. You still have ten minutes and there's a bathroom only a few compartments down for you to change in."

Taking a deep breath, Arran nodded and pulled out her school uniform from the top of her truck. Hurrying out of the compartment, she headed down the train car reaching the bathroom right where Val had told her it was. After changing, she looked into the mirror to make sure she didn't look as flustered as she felt. Then she attached her pin, the green and silver writing on it matching her tie and robes. Smiling to her self, she started to head for the door, when another stall opened. Walking out was none other that Lily Evans.

"Oh! Arran, I didn't see you there," Lily said, realizing that she wasn't alone. Taking in her appearance, she smiled, "You made prefect. Congrats!"

Arran didn't smile, but nodded her head in return, noticing the red and gold pin on the other girl's robes.

"Uh, I should go," She said, after a second of silence.

Shaking her head Lily nodded, "Right, so should I...I guess I'll see you later."

Quickly taking her leave, Arran headed back to her friends. As she entered, Regulus stood, waiting for her to put up her muggle clothes, before leading the way out of the compartment. Val and Will wished them luck as they left, also making comments about how they were rule followers now. Turning to look at her partner, Arran saw his small smile.

"Come on, this way, " He told her, leading the way to the prefects' carriage.

When they arrived they saw quite a few familiar faces. Of course, there were the other Slytherin prefects, Emily Rosier and Jacob Travers were 6th years, Rabastan Lestrange and Fray Parkinson were 7th years, along with Theodore Nott who was Head Boy this year. They also saw Lily and Lupin sitting in a group of Gryffindors. Arran was also surprised to see Octavia Hall as a 5th year Hufflepuff prefect. Octavia saw her and gave her a small wave and a smirk, before turning back to the other Hufflepuffs. Arran and Regulus took two of the seats in the back, behind a group of Ravenclaws.

Overall, the meeting was very boring. Nott and the Head Girl, Dorcas Meadows a Ravenclaw, explained the duties of the prefects for all of the newbies along with describing any changes they were making this year, which were few. When they were finally realeased, Arran joined Regulus in heading out the door, when a hand grabbed her wrist. Jumping from the surprise, she looked behind her to see Octavia. The girl smiled, dropping her arm.

"Sorry, just trying to get your attention," She said. "So, you are a prefect. You didn't tell me that last year."

"Well, I wasn't a prefect last year, " Arran responded.

The girl laughed and shook her head, "No, I mean you didn't say you were a good-two-shoes. Anyway, did you draw anything interesting over the holidays?"

"Just because I'm a prefect doesn't mean I follow the rules," Arran said. Smirking she added, "It just means that I don't get caught."

Octavia raised an eyebrow, "I like you, but you didn't answer my question."

"Not really, just a few boring sceneries." Arran answered warily.

Hearing her name called, Octavia looked behind her to see another Hufflepuff motioning her over, "Well, show me sometime later."

Then she turned and headed toward her classmate. Shaking her head at the Hufflepuff, Arran headed toward where Regulus was waiting for her outside the compartment. As they started headed back toward their compartment, he turned toward her.

"So, who was that?" He asked.

"Oh, that was Octavia Hall, a Hufflepuff in our year. I met her at the end of last year."

Nodding his head, he fell silent. Arran took the time to look at her best friend. Over the summer he had grown taller, now standing quite a few inches above her. His black hair was also longer, falling just below his ears. He looked older, not as lean as he had last year, though still not as broad as Will was. It was his eyes that bothered her. They lacked the usual spark she saw in them. She knew something was up. Something had happened over the summer that bothered him, know it was just a matter of finding out what.

* * *

The Sorting that year passed just like the past four. Arran cheered for the new Slytherins, but refrained from joining with the other Slytherins in booing the Gryffindors. House rivalry only went so far for Arran. House Cup and Quidditch Cup, sure, but hating everyone because of their house, was stupid. Ravenclaws were good students, Hufflepuffs were always up to lend a hand (at least some of them, most were just duffers), and Gryffindors were also good debaters and, though annoyingly stubborn and reckless, also brave.

It was probably the reason that Slytherins hated Gryffindors. Despite all their talking and boasting, almost every Slytherin shied away from conflict or confrontation. They were hardwired to survive and preserve their own lives and the lives of their friends and family. It went against their nature to jump in front of trains and take a curse for someone other than a friend/family member. Arran knew she hated them for it, just not enough to shun the entire house.

By the time dinner had ended and Dumbledore had finished his speech, Arran was beyond tired. Unlike Val, she hadn't been able to take a nap on the train. Because of this, Arran was very slow following her friends up from the table. Dessert had made Val even more hyper than she had been after sleeping for five hours. Will seemed to be the only one who could try and keep up with her, so the two took the lead, heading down to the common room. Arran hung back with Regulus and was about to follow them when he pulled her back. Confused, she looked over at him.

"We have to show the first years to the common room, remember," He told her. He sounded like he enjoyed keeping her from her bed.

Scowling, she sighed. Turning to the first years that had appeared around them, she addressed them,"Welcome to Slytherin! I'm Arran Snape and this is Regulus Black. We're the fifth year prefects and we'll show you to the common room."

Regulus and Arran turned and started heading down to the dungeons, taking a slower pace than they usually would. As they walked, Regulus started talking, explaining the ways of Hogwarts.

"The Slytherin common room is down in the dungeons. Each house has one in a different place in the castle. The common room is where you'll sleep, relax, and sometimes study. For our common room, there's a password. It changes every fortnight and the new one will be posted on the bulletin board inside, so be sure to check it."

They stopped as they arrived at the entrance. It was a solid stone wall in a seemingly dead end corridor in the dungeons. Turning to the first years, Arran spoke again,"There are two dormitories inside, girls and boys. The girls is on the left, the boys on the right." To their confused faces, she added,"You'll see once we're inside. For now, the password is _fortis._ Please remember it, I won't be coming outside to get you in the middle of the night."

The stone wall melted away to reveal the passage way into the common room. Regulus and Arran lead the way in, and then walked toward the couches were Val and Will sat. Once they sat down, they all looked back to the firsties. They all were staring around the common room in awe.

"Were we ever that...awestruck?" Val asked.

Will laughed, "Yep, we all were."

Val frowned, and stuck out her tongue at him. Sighing, Arran stood.

"I'm going to bed, good night, guys."

A chorus of "Good night" followed as she headed to he fifth year girls' dormitory. She found her bed pushed up to the corner of the room like always. Quickly getting ready for bed, Arran laid down on her four-poster. Closing her eyes, she thought of what had happened so for this year. Running into Octavia, whatever was bothering Regulus, and the run in with Lily. Rolling onto her side, she decided the only thing she could do for now was figuring out what was up with Regulus. Whatever it was was clearly affecting him, and she was determined to find out.

* * *

**AN:**

**This actually took a while to write. I've been reading other fanfics lately and have really been enjoying Quidditch ones, so I originally wrote it so that on the train they asked if Arran was trying out. Then I realized that as awesome as she is, Arran isn't a Quidditch player, and that prefects were supposed to be chosen fifth year, so I scrapped it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please send in any feedback, I'd love to hear it!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Arran collapsed into the chair. She was spending her free period in the library to catch up on homework. It was only half way through the second week of school and already the teachers were piling on the work. So far, she had a Transfig essay, Ancient Runes translation, Potions essay, and a Charms essay to do. That didn't include the two Herbology essays that she had already done. Dropping her bag beside the chair, she pulled out the Potions book first. It was the easiest, Slughorn had only said one scroll, luckily, on the properties of aconite.

She had just finished her first paragraph when someone plopped into the seat next to her. Looking up, she recognized the short brown hair of Octavia. The Hufflepuff hadn't approached her since the train, but had given her smirks and waves whenever they crossed paths. Now, she was dressed in her uniform, minus the robes which Arran had also discarded, and had her own Potions book in her hand.

Smirking, Octavia said, "Hey, haven't talked to you in a while."

"I wasn't aware we had talked for more than a few minutes at the most," Arran replied. "Shouldn't you be with all the other Puffers in the basement?"

"I told you on the train. I want to see those pictures you drew over the summer," She said, gesturing for Arran's bag.

Sighing, Arran reached for her bag and pulled out her sketch book. Normally, she wouldn't show a random stranger her drawings, but the Hufflepuff had already seen them last year, so Arran didn't see any harm in doing it intentionally. It also didn't seem like Octavia would leave her alone until she saw them.

"Wow, you are good," Octavia complimented, looking over the first picture. It was a pencil sketch of Spinner's End. The ramshackle houses all in a line, even some kids playing football in the street.

The next one was of the pond. The pond was at the edge of the town, facing the empty fields behind Cokeworth. This picture was in color, and Arran had been especially careful in drawing the two kids by the ponds edge. It wasn't a scene she herself had been apart of, but rather something she had seen from afar. The summer before his first year, Severus had always been down by the pond hanging out with Lily, showing her bits of the magical world. At the time, it had bugged Arran that her older brother hadn't wanted to spend time with her before going away for months. Now, however, she was sad that the two's friendship hadn't lasted.

Turning the page, Octavia reached one of Severus himself. It was done with charcoal and was just a portrait. The angles of his face had all been draw with slight shadows and his eyes were almost haunting with dark black and no pupils. Quickly shutting the book, Arran slipped it back into her bag.

"There, you saw the pictures, now you can go," She snapped. Arran hadn't wanted to show anyone that picture. Because as much as Arran tried to convince herself that she had drawn her brother, it had originally been her father. When she had realized, she had drawn over the eyes, their one distinctive feature.

Furrowing her brow, Octavia said, "Actually, I also was wondering if you could help me study. You're really good at Charms and that essay is gonna kill me."

After a second, Arran nodded and pulled out her Charms book.

* * *

A few days later, Arran and Regulus were up late studying in the common room. Most of the other Slytherins had gone to bed, including Val and Will, and the only people still in the Loft were them and three seventh years. It had been two weeks and Arran still had no idea what was up with Regulus. It seemed like he was fine and both Valarie and Will had said they thought he was fine, but Arran still had a feeling. It was random, but he would sometimes clamp up and stop talking or working, just staring off into space. Now, Arran thought, was the perfect time to confront him about it.

"So...you didn't tell us much about your summer," Arran started. It was true, the only thing he had said was the Sirius had left and he was the new Black heir.

"Not much happened over the summer to tell you," Regulus said, seeing where she was going with this. He continued writing.

"Well, I'm mean, that can't be all that happened over the summer. You had to have done something for two months." All she needed was something to explain this change in behavior. Anything at all. A failed summer fling, an argument with his parents, a bad week, something.

"It was a very boring summer, Arran. That's all," He said, finally looking up from his essay.

Leaning forward, Arran snapped, "That's not all. Something is up. You've been acting weird all year. Something happened to you over the summer. I just want to know...I could help you."

"Nothing happened. End of story," Regulus stood up, grabbing his books from off the table, "I am going to bed."

"Regulus!" Arran reached out and grabbed his left hand as he passed. Yelping, he turning back to her and yanked his arm from he grasp.

Frowning, Arran looked at his arm. There was no bandage and he hadn't hurt it at all that year, so what was up. Then something caught her eye. His sleeve had been pulled up just a smidge when she had grabbed him. She just barely saw a black mark coming from under the shirt when he moved his arm. Eyes widening she recalled a conversation from the platform.

_"Actually Arran, I was wondering if you had heard from Regulus," Will asked, his face impassive._

_Frowning, Arran shook her head,"Now that you mention it, I didn't get any letters from him all break. What about you guys?"_

_Both shook their heads._

_"I'm worried something happened. My father was certainly not making the holidays easy," Lowering his voice, he continued, "He wanted me to join the Death Eaters."_

_Both girl's eyes widened at that. Arran was a halfblood, despite her brother's approval of the group, and Val was from a neutral family._

_"What?! You said no, right?" Arran asked._

_"Of course, but I think Regulus's family might have been asking him to, as well."_

Slowly, Arran looked up into Regulus's eyes. They were panicked as he saw the realization on her face.

"You joined them?" She asked quietly, disbelief present in her voice.

"Arran, please listen-" He pleaded.

"I can't believe you. I can't..." Arran stood up and rushed down the stairs and into the girls' dormitory.

"Arran!" He called, making to follow her before he realized she was already in the dorms. Falling into a chair he put his head into his hands.

Inside the fifth year girls' dormitory, Arran collapsed onto her bed, tears already falling from her eyes. She didn't bother changing for bed, but simply closed her curtains and sobbed until she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Arran woke up to the other girls in her dormitory getting ready for classes. It was Monday, and the fifth year Slytherins had Transfig first thing. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes hoping they weren't red from crying the night before. Then she stood and started getting dressed. Of course, she should have realized the her best friend would have noticed something was wrong.

"Merlin's saggy left, Arran. What happened to you?" Val practically shouted.

Wipping at her eyes, Arran muttered, "Nothing, nothing at all. Let's just get ready for classes alright."

With that, she hastily grabbed a new uniform from her trunk and went into the bathroom to change. The other two girls from their dorm, Ava Fawley and Christie Rowle left to head down to breakfast. Val however, waited on her bed for her friend to come out of the bathroom. When she did, Val practically pounced.

"What happened? Last night you and Regulus were studying and then I wake up and you've been crying," She asked, her voice considerably softer than before.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, alright," Arran said. "Let's just go get some breakfast, okay?"

Relenting, Val stood and the two headed out of the dormitory. Neither Will nor Regulus were in the common room, they were running a bit late, so the girls didn't wait to head to the Great Hall for food. However, when they got to the Slytherin table, Arran walked right past were Regulus and Will were seated and sat down with the two other fifth year girls. Confused, Val sat down across from her.

"Arran, what's wrong? Did Regulus do something last night?"

"No, no, nothing happened. We had an argument, that's all," She answered, before starting to pile food on her plate.

Val glanced down the table to where the two boys sat. Will had a confused expression on his face, but Regulus was looking at them as if he was being stabbed in the chest. Val stood and quickly sat down next to Will facing Regulus.

"What happened?" She asked forcefully. "What did you do?"

Regulus hesitated before answering, "Nothing happened, we just had an...argument, okay?"

"Come on, Regulus, that can't be all that happened," Will tried.

Regulus ignored him and turned back to his plate of food. Huffing, Val stood again and moved down to sit with the other fifth year girls.

"What happened?" Will asked. "You know you can tell me."

Regulus sighed and looked up at his best mate. They were now both heirs of powerful, old families, if anyone could understand his decision, it was Will.

Lowering his voice, Regulus leaned forward, "My mother and Bellatrix made me...join the Death Eaters. Arran saw part of my mark last night and figured it out."

When Regulus finally met Will's eyes, his friend was staring at him in both disbelief and understanding.

"When...when did it happen?" He asked.

"About a week before my birthday," Regulus answered. "You're not mad...or upset...angry?"

"I'm a little disappointed that you didn't tell me about it. But I get why you joined...the pressure can be...a lot."

Their eyes met and a certain understanding passed between them. Pureblood families were very strict and the heir of the family was an important role. You were responsible for the family and you were responsible for bringing honor to the family. The expectations were hard to ignore and even harder to go against.

After breakfast was over, the Slytherin fifth years started headed out of the Great Hall, along with many other students that had a class first block. Arran and Val were walking without Regulus and Will and had just entered the Entrance Hall when they heard a loud commotion in one area of the large room. The Marauder's had approached Regulus and Will. The girls exchanged looks before pushing their way to the front of the crowd.

"So, what's up with you, Reg," Black taunted. "I heard dear mum and dad had you join some, shall we say, _extracurricular activities_ after I left."

Regulus's eyes flashed, but he didn't rise to the bait, instead asking, "Just let me through, Sirius, I have to get to class."

"Oh, so the Death Eaters don't like missing class, but have no problem torturing muggleborns."

"I don't know, you'd have to ask them."

Sirius glanced around at the people gathered around them, then he smirked.

"I see little _Snivellus_ isn't here. Isn't she the one always protecting you? Has she seen your true colors, Reggie." He asked, his smirk still in place.

"I'm not Arran's keeper," Regulus said, nothing showing on his face. "And I don't need her to fight my battles for me."

Sirius opened his mouth to keep talking, when McGonagall exited the Great Hall. Scowling the Marauder's started to leave, though not without getting the last word in.

"Watch your back, Reggie, I don't like Death Eaters."

Will put his hand on Regulus's shoulder and after a minute, the two boys headed to class. Arran was watching them leave when Val spoke from beside her.

"Is that what's wrong? Regulus actually joined the Death Eaters?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Arran nodded, not needing to speak. Val took a deep breath before grabbing Arran's arm and dragging her to class. When they got there, the two girls sat on the opposite side of the class as Regulus and Will.

* * *

The true reason why Regulus and Arran were no longer around each other was only known by a few people. Unfortunately, the Hogwarts rumor mill was always churning up new theories about its students, and the two fifth year Slytherins were no exception. For four years, Arran, Valarie, Regulus, and Will had been a quartet of friends, going to classes, eating meals together, etc. Now, the group had split into two, Arran and Valarie, and Regulus and Will. The stories people came up with ranged from ridiculous, Regulus didn't support Arran and Valarie getting together or vice versa, to somewhat close, they had a difference in agreement about the new political party. Whatever the case, Hogwarts spent the next few days trying to puzzle out what had happened to the group almost as close to each other as the Marauders.

Between the two of them, however, the break was both necessary and torturous. Arran was a particularly opinionated person, and combined with her stubbornness, was not one to follow the status quo. She was always unafraid to stand up for what she thought was necessary to do. On the other hand, Arran and Regulus had always gone to each other for advise about their families and had been in almost all the same classes. The new problem of having no one to confide in was weighing on both of them.

* * *

**AN:**

**Sorry for the boring ending, I wanted to add something in, but then realized this was a perfect transition to the main event in the next chapter, so I just stopped here. I'm really enjoying this story and have a huge amount of notes on where the story is going to go. Any reviews are welcome! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it!**

**nshaikh281: Thank you for your review! I rather enjoy getting to write these characters as they mature and grow up, and I'm glad you like the personalities I chose for my characters. **


	8. Chapter 8

Arran was having a bad day. It was the cumulative effect of multiple bad things happening all within the same 24 hours. First, there was the ever present lack of her best friend that refreshed every time she saw him, in the Great Hall, in class, in the common room. Then there was the increasing work due to it being her fifth year. Everyday, teachers assigned even more work to be done by the next class. It wasn't even crunch time and already Arran was feeling the pressure. Today, she had _forgotten_ one of her assignments was due and was unable to turn it in. Last, but not least, was her brother. When the school year had started, she had though Severus had forgotten all about their argument and was back to the old habit of ignoring her, because that was what older brothers did. Unfortunately, that had only lasted the first month, as starting this week, Severus took it upon himself to appear wherever Arran happened to be. It had started with him just sitting with Arran during meals, but today he had progressed to popping into existence outside of all her classes. How he even knew her schedule was beyond her.

Presently, Arran was seated in the Loft studying. It was one of the only days she didn't have prefect rounds this week and she had to get through the majority of her essays that night. She had left dinner early to get started and now she could hear the other Slytherins beginning to enter the common room. Someone sat down next to her right as she finished her History of Magic essay.

Not even bothering to look up, Arran sighed, "Severus, I have told you time and time again, I don't want to hear your crap excuses again."

"I don't think my name has changed since this morning, but maybe I just didn't notice," Someone said from across her. Snapping her head up, Arran paused as she saw Evan Rosier sitting at her table. Despite being in the same year and house, Arran hadn't spoken to the him for more than 30 seconds at a time, and even then it was only a couple of times.

"Sorry, I've had a hellish day," Arran apologized, slightly confused as to why he was here. "Is there something you need?"

Smirking, Evan leaned forward, "Do I need an excuse to look at the prettiest girl in Slytherin?"

Arran blushed, but managed a comeback, "No, but neither do I." She made a good show of looking around the common room.

"As much as that rumor has gone around, I know its not true," Evan chuckled.

Arran faked a gasp, "And how do you know? We share a dormitory. You don't know what happens when the lights go off."

"Ah, but unfortunately, your lover has been eyeing David Fawley for the past week."

"Hmm, t'was a short romance, our was."

They made eye contact and both broke out into chuckles.

"You're spunky, I like it," He said, breaking Arran from her laughter. He reached out a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her hair.

Arran ducked her head and blushed again. She was quite sure Evan was flirting with her, but unlike most of the girls in her dorm, including Val, Arran had never been on a date and wasn't sure how to respond. Looking up through her hair, Arran looked at Evan. He was pretty good looking with light blond hair and blue eyes. He was also smirking at her. When she lifted her head all the way up, he spoke again. For the first time in their conversation, he sounded nervous.

"So, Arran, I was wondering if you would accompany me to Hogsmead?" He said, not meeting her eyes.

Arran furrowed her brow, "The first trip isn't for another two weeks."

"Well, I wanted to make sure I got to you first," He said, a little sheepishly.

She studied him. He was pretty nice and was able to take a joke from what she had seen. Plus, she would have to get her first date out of the way someday. She didn't really have a reason to say no anyway.

Decided, Arran smiled shyly saying, "Sure, I'd love to go with you."

Evan grinned and gave a sigh of relief, "Great, I'll figure out a plan sometime this week and get back to you if that's alright?"

Arran nodded and Evan rose from his seat. After exchanging goodbyes, Arran turned back to her essay. However, she was unable to focus for the rest of the night and ended up not writing another word.

* * *

It was three days later when the happiness Arran had been feeling disappeared. The cause for this disappearance was one Severus Snape. He had continued to follow her around and now was asking her about her date with Evan. This combined with the loss of Regulus's consul was enough to push Arran to finally speak to her brother.

Her last class that day was Muggle Studies and as with every other class, Severus was waiting outside. Sighing heavily, Arran went over to him. His eyes widened as usually she simply ignored him or yelled at him. When she finally was standing in front of him, she spoke.

"Alright, you win and whatever, I'll let you explain yourself."

He gave her a relieved look, "Thank Merlin, you don't know how annoying your stubbornness is."

Severus gestured for her to follow him, but Arran continued, "You know this doesn't mean I believe you or forgive you."

"I know, but I still want to tell you why."

Together the two siblings made their way to the library. Once there, Severus lead her through to a small, secluded table where he sat his bag down. Arran did the same and for a moment there was a slight pause.

"So, start from the beginning," Arran broke the silence.

Severus nodded and began his story, "It started first year, and don't interrupt," he said as Arran opened he mouth. "I'll explain all your questions if you just don't stop me, okay?"

"Right, okay."

Taking a deep breath, he continued," Like I said, it started first year. You were lucky, you know. Finding those friends of yours on the train. People who are like minded. I didn't get that, instead I sat with Lily and the Marauders. They over heard us talking about houses and of course, they chimed in saying Slytherin was for the evil and Gryffindor for the good. It always upsets me when people make that comparison and to have some eleven-year-old do the same was...aggravating. Then, when the Sorting actually happened, I was split from the only friend I had."

"Sure, we kept sitting together in classes we shared and we studied in the Library, but we couldn't spend every second together. So, I made friends with some Slytherins. Lucius Malfoy, he was a prefect my first year, helped me connect with some others in my year, Mulciber and Avery. They believe in blood superiority, but they also weren't bad friends. Slytherin is like that, from my experience. Everyone has two sides. Avery is the guy always ready to have fun, be it Exploding Snap or...you know Death Eater stuff. And Mulciber is able to find a bright side in pretty much everything...its just sometimes that means he thinks muggleborns getting hurt is the bright side. They have bad beliefs, but aren't totally bad people."

"Anyway, we spent years slowly building our friendship and then last year...every thing changed. Lily is gone. I tried apologizing, I tried everything, but she doesn't want to be my friend. It sounds childish, but she was the only one in my life that actually expressed her views."

He paused and then turned to Arran, "I know you don't support blood supremacy, but you also don't speak out against it. In fact, I wasn't even sure you were against it until you found out. You're a hypocrite Arran, or at least very close to one, saying people shouldn't talk bad about muggleborns and then not stopping them when they do. You aren't totally innocent."

"So, that's what I wanted to tell you. And you know, the Dark Lord isn't all that bad. He doesn't want to eradicate muggles, just remove them from our society. Place them as lesser than us. They deserve to be there, you can't say they aren't evil."

Severus looked at Arran pleadingly. She thought out what he had said. It was true that people in Slytherin tended to have two sides to them. It was also true that she was a hypocrite and was going to have to do something about it. On the other hand, the Dark Lord was evil, she knew that and she couldn't forgive Severus for joining up. Then again, he was her brother.

Turning to look Severus in the eyes they shared, she responded truthfully, "I don't forgive you," Severus's expression darkened and seemed to waver, "But, I do understand...some of what you are saying."

With that, Arran stood up, grabbing her bag, and left the library.

* * *

The next week and a half passed very differently. Arran and Severus exchanged a few pleasantries here and there though they remained distant. Arran also exchanged a few glances with Evan. Those were slightly disbelieving. Arran had never been on a date and she was getting nervous for her first one. It was supposed to be this big step into adulthood, right?

Apparently, her friends/dorm mates thought so because the night before the Hogsmead trip the four girls gathered in there dormitory to have a girls night. Even though Arran and Val were with a different group of friends, the four girls were more than acquaintances because of sharing a dorm for the past 4 years.

That night, Christie was seated on the edge of her bed. Ava was laying down with her head at the foot of her bed while Arran and Val were leaning against their beds. Between the girls were plates of pudding. Cakes, brownies, cookies, chocolate, contraband candy they had gotten from people who snuck into Hogsmead, and butterbeers. For a while, the conversation was about school and the test they had Monday in Charms, but eventually, the talk turned to the Hogsmead trip the next day.

"So, Ava, who are you going with?" Val asked, eyeing the other girl. Ava was pretty with dark mahogany brown hair and light blue eyes. This had helped the girl go on several dates in the past year.

She smiled and said,"Jacob Flint."

Arran and Val raised their eyebrows. Jacob Flint was a very popular guy and one of the fittest Slytherins. It was also common knowledge in the house the his parents were looking to get him betrothed by the end of next year.

"Wow, way to go girl!" Arran congratulated. Taking a sip of butterbeer she turned to Christie she asked,"What about you, Christie? Anyone you're going with?"

"Maybe," she said. When all three girls gave her glares, she rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright. Justin King asked me a few days ago."

Valarie frowned and leaned forward to grab a cupcake, "Who is he?"

Shaking her head, Arran answered, "He's a sixth year Ravenclaw. Pretty fit, too. Nice job, Christie!"

Blushing, she turned the attention to Arran, "Yeah, well I heard some pretty interesting news the other day," She raised an eyebrow at Arran. "Evan Rosier did or didn't ask you to Hogsmead?"

"He did, but don't look at me for gossip. Val is going with David Fawley."

"What?!" Christie said, turning to Valarie. "How could you not tell us? He is literally the fittest bloke in Slytherin. Especially during Quidditch games when he's riding a broom and all his hair gets-"

"Can we not," Ava said, cutting off her friend, who was getting quite carried away. "He's not even that great. All he is is an annoying brother."

The other three exchanged looks and then broke into laughter at Ava's expense.

* * *

The next morning, all four girls were up early to get ready for their dates. Ava was meeting Flint at eight, so they could go and do some shopping together. Christie was meeting at eleven for lunch and Valarie was meeting her date in Hogsmead for lunch, as opposed to walking down together. Arran and Evan had agreed to meet at 9:30 in the Entrance Hall.

Since it was her first date, Arran was quite surprised that the other girls were all scrambling to get ready, put on make-up, and pick out the perfect outfit. Ignoring them, she went to her dresser at the foot of her bed. Inside she found a dark skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees and a nice dark green jumper that was super soft. She ended her ensemble with dark, knee-high boots. Arran never used make-up, so she skipped that and went on to her hair. Leaving it down, she brushed it out and then used a simple curling charm. Done, she turned around and saw her dorm mates in varying states of _. Val had one shoe on and one on her bed as she tried to do her make-up while hopping around on one heeled shoe. Ava was missing a shirt and going through Christie's dresser her hair and make-up still not done. Finally, Christie was brushing her hair while also trying to slip into her high heels.

Arran burst out laughing causing the other girls to look at her.

Val's jaw dropped when she saw her best friend was ready, "How on Earth are you done? This is your first date!"

"How are you guys not done? Its not hard," She responded, still laughing. "Plus, as you pointed out, you guys have done this before."

Scowling, Val just shook her head and went back to her mirror, "Time?"

Arran glanced at her watch as she went to grab her purse, "Seven forty-two."

As she left, Arran heard Ava shriek in alarm. Deciding that she had nothing better to do, Arran headed to the Kitchens for some breakfast.

* * *

**AN: **

**Sorry I got this out late, I've had a pretty busy week. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next one will be Arran's date and then we'll almost be at Christmas break (Note, this chapter takes place mid-October). I hope you guys are enjoying the story, its getting to be really interesting with all this planning I'm doing. Reviews are welcome, good or bad!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

After grabbing some food from the kitchens, Arran made her way to the Entrance Hall. She had taken a book from her dorm and had decided to read while in the kitchens, so know she only had fifteen minutes until she and Evan were supposed to meet. She might as well head up now and be early. Once she arrived, quite a few other people were milling around. Couples and friend groups were preparing to go down to the village and a few teachers were also heading down to the carriages. The walk to Hogsmead was about an hour, but by carriage the trip would be about fifteen to twenty minutes. Filch was also there, checking students off from his list as they headed toward carriages. After waiting for about five minutes, Evan arrived.

He smiled as he approached, "Good morning, Arran. You look great, by the way."

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself," Arran responded, blushing. Evan was wearing black slacks and a dark gray button down. His blond hair was slightly wavy, but didn't look messy.

"Since we're both a little early, do you want to start heading down now?" He asked, offering her his arm.

Slipping hers into his, she smiled, "Sure, might as well."

The trip to Hogsmead was nice. They passed Filch without much trouble and were able to snag their own carriage for the ride into the village. In the carriage, Evan kept the conversation going by asking about her life and she returned the gesture by asking about his. He was nice and by the time they made it to the village, they were discussing the hardship that was fifth year.

"You have got to be kidding me? Did you really say that to Weppler?" Arran asked exasperated. Evan had just revealed that during one very difficult week in September he had pretend that Professor Weppler, the divination teacher, had dreamed of assigning them an essay, but had never actually done it. It hadn't worked very well, seeing as most of the class had done it and turned it in, but he had tried nonetheless.

Laughing and running a hand through his hair, Evan confirmed, "Yeah, it wasn't my brightest moment, but at least I didn't get detention. And I'm sure you've had to do some outrageous thing this year."

Smirking, Arran answered, "Have I really? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the picture of a perfect student."

Then, she turned and opened the door to Honeydukes, escaping before he could respond.

Evan caught up to her near the Peppermint Toads, by far her favorite sweet, and continued to ask what exactly she had done because of OWL stress. However, he didn't get the answer out of her before they had left Honeydukes and were walking toward Tomes and Scrolls.

So far their date had gone well and Arran was pleasantly surprised. She was now quite glad she had decided to say yes to Evan. He had bought her chocolate from Honeydukes and had graciously offered to buy her a very interesting book she had found about the history of Grindlewald. She had declined, never one to like accepting charity, and they had moved on to lunch which he also paid for. It wasn't until they were leaving the Three Broomsticks that they ran into a problem, or rather a disturbance.

They were just leaving the pub when they quite literally ran into Regulus and Will who were entering the pub.

"Oh, sorry," Arran said as she ran into someone. Looking up, she was met with dark gray eyes. Her voice immediately went cold, "Regulus, is there something you need?"

"Yes, actually. Lunch," He retorted. "I didn't know I had to ask your permission to eat, Arran."

Ignoring the bait, Arran addressed her date, "Come on, Evan, let's finish our date."

Turning to grab Evan's hand, she didn't see Regulus's eyes darken at the mention that she was on a date.

"So, Arran," Regulus said. "You're dating Rosier. Just wondering if you know his history. Can't tell you how many times I've woken up to some slag leaving our dorm. But then again, maybe you're just one of his shagging partners, as well."

Arran glared before pushing past the two boys. She then pulled Evan out of the Three Broomsticks and started heading back to the castle.

"Arran, wait!" Evan protested as she pulled him along.

Turning back to him, she snapped, "What? I can't believe you aren't as upset at him as I am. That bastard! Implying that you shag anyone who walks-"

"Hey, don't worry about it. Black was just...well, I'm sure he had his reasons. Anyway, we shouldn't let him ruin our date should we."

Grabbing both of her hands, he pulled her closer to him, entwining their hands. She closed her mouth and he smiled down at her. Before she knew what was happening, Evan had leaned down and lightly kissed her. She had barely registered his caress of her lips before he had pulled back again. Letting go of her hands and linking their arms, he started heading back to the school.

"You...you can't just do that!"

"Do what?" He asked, feigning innocence.

Scowling, Arran shot back, "You know what. You can't just kiss me and not...I don't know...say something."

"What do you want me to say?"

Groaning in frustration, Arran let go of his arm and turned around, "You know what, never mind."

Laughing, Evan followed her back to the castle. It wasn't long before Arran allowed him to put his arm around her shoulder.

* * *

After the Hogsmead trip, Arran had spent the afternoon with Valarie in the Library attempting to make a dent in their pile of essays. Then, after a delicious dinner, Arran had headed back out to make her prefect rounds. She met Octavia, her partner for the night, in the Entrance Hall. After that first meeting in the Library, Arran and Octavia had not spoken. Tonight, however, Arran didn't want to patrol in silence. She had spent the entire night thinking over what Regulus had said and knew that if she had nothing to occupy herself, her thoughts would go back to that moment in time.

Approaching Octavia, Arran decided to break the ice now, "Hello, Octavia. Long time no see."

She was surprised when the Hufflepuff simply smiled and said, "Yeah, I suppose you're as swamped with homework as I am."

After that, conversation flowed smoothly between the two. Arran was a little jealous of the way Octavia could simply jump into a conversation with anyone, but at that moment she was just grateful. They talked about classes, OWLs, and the added stress of prefect duties. The conversation had just turned to the upcoming Quidditch match, Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor, when they heard a scream from down the hall.

Exchanging glances, the two fifth years ran toward the hallway. They were in the dungeons, a few corridors down from the potions classroom. As they turned a corner, Arran gasped at the scene before them.

Two Slytherins, a sixth year and seventh year, were standing over a sixth year Gryffindor with their wands pointed at her. The two prefects had just reached the boys when they heard Wilkes, the seventh year, cast _Crucio_. McDonald screamed as the red spell hit her chest.

Immediately, Octavia cast a Disarming Charm at him, but it missed and hit Mulciber instead. This alerted the Slytherins to Arran and Octavia's presence. Wilkes cast a Shield charm when he saw the prefects and Arran's stunner clashed with it sending red sparks around the hallway.

Keeping her eyes on Wilkes, Arran addresses her partner, "Octavia, get McDonald out of here and find a professor!"

Arran had just finished when her opponent decided to attack, sending a Knockback Jinx at her and sending his partner back toward the Slytherin common room. Quickly casting a Shield Charm, Arran followed up with a Disarming Charm and a Stunner.

While they were dueling, the Cruciatus had stopped being cast on the Gryffindor and Octavia had manage to pull the girl behind Arran and lean her against the wall. With McDonald out of the way, Octavia glanced back toward Arran before heading to the upper levels to find a teacher.

Despite not being able to cast spells non-verbally, Arran was able to fend off the seventh year. At one point in time, she was hit with a particularly nasty Severing Charm that made a rather large gash on her arm. Eventually, however, Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived lead by Octavia. They quickly disarmed Wilkes before quickly going to McDonald's side.

"Call Poppy, Minerva," Dumbledore said as he waved his wand over the unconscious girl.

Nodding, Minerva responded, "Of course. Expecto Patronum."

A silver cat appeared at the tip of her wand and dashed of into the hall, leaving a faint trail of silvery light. Arran made a note of the spell before addressing the professors.

"We found her already on the ground," She reported, putting one hand on her bleeding arm. "It was Wilkes that cast the Cruciatus on her, but Mulciber was also here."

"Yes, thank you, Miss Snape. You and Miss Hall should return to your dormitories." McGonagall said, waving her wand at Arran's injury to heal it.

Arran nodded and then turned down the hallway toward the Slytherin common room. She was surprised when Octavia joined her. It wasn't until they had turned the corner that she spoke.

"Do you...do you support the Death Eaters?" She asked, seemingly not wanting to ask.

Glancing at her fellow prefect, Arran clarified, "No, of course not."

Octavia let out a breath of relief, "Oh, thank god! I thought you might be one of those pureblood fanatics or whatever which would be really sad since I really like you. And I'm rambling. Sorry," she said, putting a hand on Arran's shoulder.

"It's fine. In these times, you shouldn't assume anything. You were being smart," Giving Octavia a small smile, Arran went downward at the staircase they had arrived at, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Grinning, Octavia replied, "Of course, I wouldn't want to deprive you of my presence another day."

Shaking her head, Arran headed to the dorms. Whispering the password, _Basilisk, _Arran entered the common room. It wasn't until she had collapsed on her bed that she let out a sigh of exhaustion. She quickly changed for bed and fell asleep, thinking over everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.

* * *

As October gave way to November, not much changed for Arran. She and Evan were officially dating, but they had agreed that if one of them didn't think it would work they would tell the other. It was nice. She would study with him in the Library and often times those study dates turned into snogging in the Restricted Section. The Halloween Feast passed with full stomachs and time hanging out with her friends. Arran still continued to ignore Regulus, but was able to spend some time with Will and Val. Arran was also getting along better with Severus. Sometimes he would say something about the Death Eaters and she would storm off, but they were able to make up quickly and share what was going on in their lives. Silently, Arran was grateful that Severus wasn't being a "protective older brother" and seemed to not care about her relationship with Evan.

By the second week of November, the grounds were covered in a layer of snow and Arran was spending the day in a small nook on the fourth floor. She had recently taken on a few projects that were undoubtedly adding to her pile of work. The first was non-verbal spells. It was something she was going to learn next year, but she had decided to get a head start. Then next was the spell McGonagall had used that one night in October. She had learned that it was called the Patronus Charm and was used to repel dementors. She hadn't yet found anything on it sending messages, but was assuming it was something Dumbledore might have created.

That night had quickly spread through school as Wilkes had been expelled. Mulciber had not been punished expect for detentions and lost points seeing as neither Octavia or Arran had heard him use a spell. The topic of Death Eaters and Voldemort had quickly filled into the hushed conversations of most students. Everyone had an opinion and most were quickly taking a side. This new debate about dark magic had also resulted in many Slytherins getting scorned or hexed in the halls. So far, Arran had avoided any attacks, but she knew it wouldn't be long before the fight would be brought to her.

That reasoning had brought her to her third project: Occlumency. She had taken quite a few books from the Library about the topic, but hadn't learned much about it. Occlumency was the protection of the mind. A mental barrier against unwanted attacks that could lead to your adversary getting information out of you. Only one book from the Restricted Section had given a guide of how to do it and Arran had copied it to practice over the summer.

Despite the many projects and homework Arran had to do, today she wasn't doing any of them. Instead, she was reading a potions book, her brother's to be precise, in order to get a jump on next year's work. Both she and Severus were very talented at Potions and had taken to altering the recipes in the books. It was no doubt one of the reasons Arran had been made a prefect and was a member of the Slug Club. She had just turned the page to a recipe he hadn't done yet when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I was looking for that, you know," Severus said dryly, obviously not pleased with having to hunt down his textbook.

Looking up, Arran responded sheepishly, "Well, you can't blame me for wanting to take a peak, can you?"

Rolling his eyes, Severus sat down next to his sister, "I suppose not. What are you looking at?"

"Just seeing what other things can be changed. See, right here. You could do twice clockwise and five times counter-clockwise. That would speed up the brewing time."

Severus looked over and studied the recipe she was on. Nodding in agreement, he added, "And if you add a boom berry here the potion wouldn't have as many side affects."

Together, the two siblings debated the finer points of potions making, sometimes making marks in his textbook to record their thoughts. It was relaxing in a way. For the past few weeks, all Arran had worried about was the growing war. It was nice to just be a normal student or a normal pair of siblings. By the time they were done, almost every potion in the book had notes and revisions to it and both Arran and Severus were feeling more peaceful than they had in weeks.

* * *

**AN: **

**Hey, I'm actually getting a chapter out in a reasonable amount of time. To be honest, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this story. I already have the rest of fifth year planned out along with most of the major events leading up to '81. I hope you guys are enjoying it! Reviews are welcome!**

**Chelsea always: Good guess! I hope it was okay. As someone who is neither British nor has ever been on a date, it was kinda hard to write. Thanks for the review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Arran was bored. The Christmas Holidays had arrived and all of her friends had left to join their families. Even Sev had left with one of his friends. Val had tried to get her parents to let Arran come with them (they were going to France), but her mother had said it was strictly for family. Both Will and Regulus had also gone home for the holidays, though Arran was still not talking to the later. Arran would have even been thankful for Evan's company, but they had both decided it was too early to meet his parents, and his had been forceful in him going home.

The Slytherin common was very quiet as Arran made her way into it. Only two other people had stayed, a seventh year and a second year. Neither of them had tried talking to Arran and she wasn't inclined to either. The first few days of break she had spent avoiding all human contact and reading in the Library. Now, even Arran was bored of that and had decided for a change of scenery. Heading down the hall to her dorm, she quickly grabbed a thick coat, scarf, gloves, and a hat. Grabbing her sketch book as she left, she headed out to the frozen lake.

Not surprisingly, Arran was the only person outside. The heavy snows and cold temperatures put most people off, but Arran was content after putting a weak warming charm on her coat. Taking out the pencils she had, she looked around for inspiration. The lake was frozen and snow was around the entire grounds. The trees were bare and snow and ice decorated their branches and trunks. Even Hagrid's hut was covered in snow and the pumpkin patch was completely bare and white with snow. Finally deciding on a picture, Arran put pencil to paper. It was relaxing in a way she hadn't been for days. Soon she was lost in the rhythm of her pencil scratching the paper and the intricacies of the ice. It wasn't until she had finished that she realized most of the day had passed. She had left the castle mid-morning and the sun was just peaking over the trees as it descended the sky. Sighing, Arran packed up her pencils and closed her book. She had enjoyed it while it lasted, but she now had to return to the empty halls and quiet common room.

Waking up the next morning, Arran was surprised to see the presents at the foot of her bed. She had forgotten Christmas was right after break started. Even after four years at Hogwarts for the holiday, it was still a stark reminder. It was a reminder that her parents didn't care for her, as she'd never received a present from them. Shaking the depressing thoughts from her head, Arran made her way to the foot of her bed. Taking the top present she recognized it as from Will. Smiling, she silently thanked her friends before tearing into her presents. From Will, she had gotten a book on Runes used in Asia. Valarie had gotten her a beautiful pair of earrings, silver with small snakes hanging down from them. Sev had gotten her a book on potions of questionable legalality. Evan had gotten her a leather bracelet with blue and green beads sewn into it. Surprisingly, Octavia had gotten her a present, a new sketch book and colored pencils. The last present had not been signed. It was a necklace with a leather chain and an emerald teardrop, the clasp made of gold. It was a beautiful necklace, simple but beautiful. Looking back to the box, Arran wondered who had given it to her. There was no name on the box or wrapping paper and she couldn't think of anyone who might have given it to her. Shrugging, Arran cleaned up the torn paper and put her gifts away, only pausing to put on the necklace. Swiftly getting dressed, Arran decided the Library would have to do for today and made her way down the Great Hall to grab some breakfast.

As she entered, she quickly grabbed a chocolate croissant from the end of the table before turning to leave.

"You should stay," a voice called from behind her. "You have not eaten any meals in here since break began."

Turning, Arran saw Dumbledore standing by the table, "I'm afraid I have some work to do in the Library, Headmaster."

His blue eyes twinkled as he spoke, "Well, I know how that feels, but are you sure you don't want to stay. I've always found the company of others to be pleasant in times like these."

"My work can't wait, but thank you for the invitation," Arran said with narrowed eyes. She wasn't stupid and the reference to these times was as much a reference to the green of her sweater.

Dumbledore simply nodded, "Very well, I hope you have an...enlightening Christmas."

Dipping her head in respect, Arran quickly made her way out of the Great Hall and toward the Library. Dumbledore was always strange, but his musings over her whereabouts were even stranger. Over the course of her schooling, she had never spoken directly to the Headmaster, and he had never shown a particular interest in her either. Shaking her head, Arran decided that if someone was ever able to understand Dumbledore, they must be as abnormal as him.

* * *

Regulus hadn't wanted to go home for the holidays. He had gotten a letter two weeks ago _requesting_ his presence over break, but he knew it was more of an order. His parents never requested anything that they didn't actually want. So, he had left Hogwarts two days ago along with Will and Val, though he hadn't seen her. Now, sitting in the silent house, he wondered what his parents had actually wanted him home for. They had greeted him when he arrived from Kings' Cross, but other than that he had only seen them during meals. Spending as much time in his room as he could helped him to forget what they had done to him, despite the reminder burned into his arm. The past few weeks had been horrible. Arran was perhaps his closest friend and the silence between them had been deafening. Not only that, but he desperately wished he could talk to her about the mark on his forearm. Will, though understanding in why he took it wasn't able to realize that Regulus was firmly against it. He knew Regulus didn't mind muggles or muggle-born, but Regulus knew his friend also subscribed to the Black stereotype. Arran had been the only friend who knew how deep his hate for the pureblood supremacists went and now he couldn't talk to her.

Regulus was also not completely incompetent. He knew that sooner or later he would be called to serve Voldemort and that when he was, he needed to be prepared. He had spent countless hours in the Hogwarts' Library trying to find a way to keep his beliefs secret. He had found the practice of Occlumency and had started practicing it in his spare time. He knew he wasn't match for anyone, but also knew something was better than nothing. At least if he was discovered and killed he had tried.

That thought had made the start of his break very depressing. He could die. Regulus knew that Voldemort's followers were murderers and that traitors wouldn't be treated lightly. It made the entire conflict even more real, to realize that his life could end before he reached 17. Regulus knew that he didn't want to die, but he also knew that it was a possibility in this war. So, he had decided to try his best to live, to survive. Spending most nights in the Restricted Section of the Library and studying up on defensive and offensive spells, anything he thought could help him. He just hoped it was enough when the mark finally burned.

Later that evening, Regulus heard the front door open downstairs. After a tense and quiet dinner, he was surprised to have someone calling this late at night. Creeping down to the landing above the foyer, he listened for who it was.

"Thank you, Bellatrix, " he heard his mother say, "for coming."

His cousin's silky voice carried up the stairs, "Thank you for accepting my invitation. It will be nice to have someone in this family that I can pass things down to."

"Well, it was only right, considering you brought him into the Cause." His mother said, and cold realization flooded over him. This was about the Death Eaters and Voldemort. There was no other possible reason for Bellatrix to be here, but for something related to the Dark Lord. Quickly and silently, Regulus hurried back to his room and waited to be called downstairs. It wouldn't do to be caught eavesdropping on them. Only a few minutes later, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

Causally getting up, he opened it to see his cousin. She smirked when she saw him and entered, pushing past him to lean against his desk. Feeling like this was class back at school, he settled into a chair in front of her, before speaking.

"Bellatrix, I didn't expect to see you until New Years," he said. "What brings you here?"

Glancing over him, Bellatrix responded. "The Dark Lord and your parents have agreed to let me oversee your training. By the time you graduate you'll be able to take down Aurors twice your age."

"Thank you, its an honor," he said, knowing there was no other acceptable answer. "What are we starting with?"

Despite the fact that Bellatrix was crazy, Regulus knew that she was very skilled and very dangerous. It would be stupid to turn down her offer of training even if he didn't want to do half the things he would be required to do.

Nodding, his cousin launched into an explanation of the skills needed to be a Death Eater. She explained the Unforgivables in exacting detail along with spells that were even darker. She even recommended books that had spells only Blacks knew of. At the end of her speech, she asked about Occlumency.

"I've heard about and tried to practice some aspects of it," Regulus admitted.

"I'll teach you more of it. It's important for you to know, people will try to use it against you."

"Who?"

"Aurors, Dumbledore, even other Death Eaters. They'll want to get an upper hand. You've already risen in the ranks just by being a Black and lower members might try something on you. Tomorrow, meet me at Lestrange Manor and we'll start your training."

With that, Bellatrix left his room. Leaning back in his chair, Regulus felt sick. Part of it was just the spells she had described. Spells to decay living flesh, to turn someone inside out, and even worse. The other part was the reality of what he was a part of. He had no doubt in his mind that Bellatrix used those spells and enjoyed it. It had just never occurred to him that being a Death Eater might very well force him to turn as sadistic and insane as Bellatrix.

* * *

A week later, and Arran had decided to venture out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts section of the Library that she had combed through the last few days. It was almost the end of break and already she had worked though the Restricted section of protection spells and history books. Deciding a break was needed to keep her sanity, Arran wandered over to the Charms section. It was another of her favorite subjects, but she had never pursued it as much as her others. Taking a turn at random, she made her way down a Charms aisle. Pulling a few books off the shelf that caught her eye for a quick look, she had almost gotten to the end, when a blue and gold book stood out near the end. Pulling it free with practiced ease, Arran looked at the title: _Charms of the Black Death._ Or at least that was what she thought at first. The title was in Ancient Runes, but even still Arran was confused. Though muggle history was of little importance to wizards, she had still gone to muggle primary school and learned some of it. The Black Death had been a plague during the 1300s that killed thousands, millions of people around the world. How did Charms tie into something like that? And how were wizards connected to a muggle disease?

Opening the book to the beginning, Arran saw the entire book was in Ancient Runes. Sighing, she looked back at the cover for an author: E.M. Falcon. was all it said. Shaking her head, Arran re-shelved the book. As interesting as it looked, she didn't have time to translate a whole book. Deciding her break was over, she returned to her table with books on the Patronus Charm and Ccclumency. Putting the strange book out of her mind, Arran returned to her reading, forgetting the book entirely by the end of the day.

* * *

**AN: **

**Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know I haven't updated in weeks(please don't kill me), but in my defense I've been really busy. Its exam season and so I've been studying for those along with getting my first job and having to make plans for my sister's graduation. I will make it up to you. Next week is my last week of school and then its summer(finally!). I'll try to do some double updates to make up for the three(?) weeks that I missed, promise.**

**Reviews are welcome as always!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

Two weeks after Winter Break ended, Arran realized why fifth year was the second hardest year of education. The professors piled on the homework and essays and had no regard for the other activities the students were also in. The added homework along with prefect duties caused Arran to loose quite a bit of sleep. This also made the absence of Regulus become even more apparent.

As the two fifth year, Slytherin prefects Regulus and Arran were assigned a majority of patrols together. They still had a few others with the other fifth year prefects, but for the most part they were to patrol together. Since their argument, Arran had tried to trade patrols with other prefects, with only a few that she couldn't arrange. For those she had suffered in silence, but since break started, it was even harder to get other prefects to switch patrol times. The added anger at Regulus for even joining the Death Eaters and her lack of sleep made Arran quite irritable by the time they were patrolling together. It was on one such night that Arran couldn't help but break the silence.

* * *

The day had started out with little difference to any other that week. After waking up early, as usual, Arran got ready for the day, skipping her usual morning run for a few more minutes of sleep. She had stayed up late the previous night to finish the potions essay that was due today and was regretting her decision very much that morning. After getting dressed in her uniform, Arran woke up Val and the other two girls in the dorm, all of them having forgotten the early Potions class that morning. Finally escaping the dorm Arran made her way to breakfast.

As she approached the Slytherin table, Arran saw Regulus reading a book while he ate his breakfast. Even after months of ignoring him, the sight of her former best friend simply sitting there filled her with anger and disappointment. Now, however, the anger wasn't just at his decision to join the Death Eaters. Now, Arran was angry that he didn't seem as affected by their broken friendship as she was. He went about his day doing everything normally, as if they hadn't even been friends. As she made her way past him, Arran made no outward appearance of noticing that Regulus was siting at the table as well, though she could feel his eyes following her as she sat down at the other end of the table.

It wasn't long before Arran was joined by her dorm mates and before she was prepared, the four girls were making their way to Potions. Unfortunately for them, Slughorn had decided that new seats were a good idea halfway through the year.

They had entered the classroom to see that everyone's name was on the board paired with their new partners. As Arran approached, she saw that she had been paired with Regulus. Sighing, she made her way to their seat and took the seat next to him. Then class passed with silence between them. Regulus prepared the ingredients and Arran added them to the potion, so the two had no need to speak to each other. Despite the apparent ease that the class passed in, the tension between the two was palpable. At the end of class, Arran packed up and escaped as fast as she could.

Val was able to catch up with her afterward on the way to History of Magic.

"What happened?" she asked. "I saw you got paired with Regulus."

Sighing, Arran replied, "Nothing, that's the problem. I just...I thought he didn't believe any of that shit and to find out he joined the cause we ridiculed...it stings, is all."

"I know, but you already know what I think you should do," Val said. Ever since December, Val had been of the opinion that Arran should talk to Regulus and get his side of the story. She said that Regulus had always had a reason for everything he did, so this might have a valid reason, too. Or at least that was the jist of it.

The two friends fell silent as they made their way to Binns's classroom. Valarie knew not to push too much, or it would never happen. Arran was a very stubborn person and often didn't like to admit she was wrong. Val also knew that with the stress of everything else, soon Arran wouldn't have the energy to argue with Regulus.

By the end of the day, both Arran and Val had left the conversation of Regulus to another day and were back to their semi-normal selves. Unfortunately, their last class of the day, Transfiguration, had been ended with a pop quiz. Emerging from McGonagall's room, the two Slytherins headed to the Library despite their pounding heads, to get started on the two essays they had been assigned. One from McGonagall and the other from Binns. Two hours later and the two Slytherin girls were extremely tired as they made their way down to dinner.

Unfortunately for Arran, she wasn't done after dinner. She followed Val up to the dorm and they studied for another few hours before Arran left for patrol. Arran was exhausted as she made her way to the Entrance Hall, the standard meeting place to begin patrols. Regulus was leaning against a wall as she approached and the two started off toward the second floor. They made it all the way to the fourth floor before Arran had to break the silence.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked, looking directly at Regulus. She had stopped walking and was a few paces behind him before he stopped as well.

"Why did I do what?" he countered. Regulus looked around the hall as he did, as if to make sure they were alone.

Sighing, Regulus was always hard to pin down, she tried again, "You know what? I want to know why you did it. Why you decided to become one of..._them._"

"I didn't want to, you know. You think I really would have wanted to? After everything I've told you?" Regulus sounded angry now, as if he too was stressed from this argument.

"If you didn't want to, why did you join?"

"I don't know," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It all happened so fast. It was like they all knew what I would say, that I would say 'yes'. Funny how they thought I was the perfect replacement to their blood traitor son," he laughed without humor as he finished.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I was shocked. I couldn't think of anything once she came and they told me what was happening. You're right to abandon me, you know," Regulus admitted, sadness and something else in his voice. "I didn't fight back, Arran. I didn't want to join, but I didn't fight back either. You know how I am. I want to change things for the better, make the Black family something respected, not just feared. But I didn't stop them from doing anything. I just went right along with whatever Bellatrix said."

Arran watched as Regulus leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. His head was in his hands, though he wasn't crying. It was the most emotion she had seen out of him in years. Regulus had always been reserved. He had perfected the Slytherin mask of indifference and calm before anyone else. She wondered about what he'd told her. At the beginning of the year, even at the end of last, she had hated the Death Eaters. She still did, but in a different way. He talk with Severus had been the starting point as she realized that the Death Eaters weren't just nameless faces anymore. More than likely most of Slytherin would be pulled into them and she would know many of them. Her hate toward them had changed, she realized. She didn't hate the people, but their beliefs. She hated Voldemort, but she acknowledged that the people who followed him weren't all bad. Severus may be training to be a Death Eater, but he was still her brother and they could still have conversations of Potions and theory. Now, she applied that philosophy to Regulus.

Walking across the hall to him, she gently put her hands on his wrists and pulled his hands from his face. Like she already knew, he hadn't been crying, but he was still shaking slightly as she crouched before him.

"I...I don't approve, but I'll try to understand," Arran said. "I can't condone them, but I know you aren't an evil person, Reg." Her old nickname for him slipped out as if they were 12 again, telling stories about their families and sharing their greatest wishes with each other.

The two stayed there for a few minutes before both stood up and continued their patrol. They didn't speak for the rest of the night, but when they had finished and were back in the common room, they settled into two armchairs to catch up. It was that, that made them realize they had each others' backs. That their friendship could actually last a huge fight and still survive.

Later, as she replayed the night over and over in her mind, Arran thought more and more about the Death Eaters and the people against them. Her last thought before she drifted to sleep was that this war would tear the world apart.

* * *

**AN: I'm very sorry. This chapter was harder to write than I thought and its also much shorter than usual(sorry!). I will update later this week to make up for it and will at least try to update more regularly. Fifth year will be ending soon and then it starts to get hectic, so more's coming. **

**I have a question for you guys this time. This story is going to be long, I mean really long. My plan is to go all the way through the 80s and to Deathly Hallows. My question is: would you prefer to have three separate stories, or to keep posting everything on this story? I know this won't really matter for a while, but I like to plan everything.**

**Thanks for reading, and any reviews are welcome!**


	12. Chapter 12

Arran hurried up the staircase, cursing the fact that classes started so early. Usually, Arran was a morning person, but last night after making up with Regulus, the two had stayed up in the common room, catching up until the very early hours of the morning. Thus, neither of them had gotten more than a few hours of sleep. Unlike Reg, she had a class first thing in the morning. Gripping her bag tighter, she jumped the top step, a trick step she had found the hard way in third year, as she hurried to Muggle Studies. As she approached the door on the fourth floor, she wished she'd had time to stop in the kitchens. Arran opened the door, groaning as she realized she had two classes before lunch.

Entering the classroom, she saw the class full, or as full as it got. Out of her year, only two Gryffindors, four Ravenclaws, and three Hufflepuffs had chosen to take the class. No other Slytherins were there either, but Arran wasn't surprised about that. The majority of Slytherin house was either pureblood or a supporter of pureblood supremacy. Looking around, Arran slid into the seat beside Octavia, her usual partner in the class nowadays. Octavia turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Cutting in a bit close today, huh."

"Shut up," Arran snapped back. "You're lucky I even bothered to show."

Octavia shook her head, "Not really, I think you'd drop dead if you ever missed a class, Miss Prefect."

"Like you can talk," she replied, nodding her head to Octavia's prefect badge.

"Touche."

Grinning, both girls turned to the front as Professor Burbage started the class.

"Morning everyone! Today we are going to start a practice research project. This project will be a larger and easier version of your Muggle Studies OWL research paper. You will be able to work with a partner, but you each will have to write up your final essay independently, and if I hear of any one slacking off, I'll reassign partners that you can't pick. And remember, you won't have a partner on the OWL."

Everyone eagerly looked to their friends at that announcement. It was rare that Professor Burbage allowed them to pick their partners and no one was willing to risk the wrath of the rest of the class by not contributing. It was also a relief that they would be practicing the research paper for their OWL, as they had yet to do one in the two and half years in the class.

Calling for silence, Professor Burbage continued, "This project will have two parts, the essay that you will write independently and the presentation which will be presented and researched with your partner. Both parts will be on a muggle topic of your choice. Of course, the topic must be approved by me before you begin. Today's class will be spent brainstorming ideas with your partners. Once you've thought of an idea, talk to me and we'll see if its good."

Smiling, she turned to her desk and started shuffling papers, an obvious dismissal. Arran turned to Octavia to see her already meeting her gaze.

"So, any ideas?" Arran asked, knowing without asking that they would be partners. "I'm pretty open to anything."

Octavia tilted her head to the side, thinking, "Well, we should decide a larger category first. You know, culture, technology, politics, that sort of stuff. That way we can narrow down what we're not interested in."

Arran nodded, "Sounds good."

The two took out their textbook and started looking through it, occasionally sharing a pro or con for a certain category. Finally, about fifteen minutes later they had decided on a technological topic. Together they then each presented ideas for a final topic to research weighing the pros and cons as if they were Ravenclaws. Finally they had reached a conclusion: medical techniques and technologies. Unsurprisingly, one of the Ravenclaw groups had already tried for a topic, but they had obviously been declined as they were still shuffling through books. Standing, Arran and Octavia headed over to Professor Burbage.

"Well, Miss Snape, Miss Hall, what have you got?" she said, smiling.

The two exchanged looks, before Octavia spoke, "We were thinking muggle medical techniques. You know how they heal certain injuries and even diseases that they get, but don't have magic to heal."

Professor Burbage was silent, before nodding her head, "That could work, I like it. Why don't you guys go ahead and start researching in the library? I trust you two to not run off and do something irresponsible."

Arran grinned, before thanking her and heading back to her desk. She grabbed her bag and then headed out of the classroom with Octavia, starting the walk to the library.

"That went well," Arran said. "I almost thought she would decline it for a second."

"Yes, but she'll also be expecting a very well put together presentation," Octavia sighed. "Just another thing to add to the giant stack of work to finish."

Arran laughed just as the bell rung. Apparently, they wouldn't be having a study session after all. Biding good-bye to Octavia, Arran headed down to the dungeons to meet her friends. Valarie was sitting by the main fire, in one of the more exclusive seats, when Arran arrived. Will was also there along with Regulus who appeared to be filling them in on what happened last night. Inwardly grinning, Arran threw herself down into one of the seats, dropping her bag on the ground.

"Where have you been?!" Valarie exclaimed, glaring at Arran from her seat. "I've just heard from _them _that you and Regulus made up. Best friends are supposed to know first."

Arran sighed, scolding herself for not telling Val before, "I'm sorry, Val. I had Muggle Studies this morning and didn't get to bed until after you were asleep. Next time, you'll be the first to know."

Val huffed and crossed her arms across her chest as she leaned back into her chair. Ignoring Valarie's theatrics, Will turned to her and clapped her on the back.

"I'm glad to have you back, its not the same without you constantly nagging us to pay attention in History."

Arran smirked and raised an eyebrow, "And guess how much you'll remember on that OWL thanks to me."

Regulus gave a slight chuckle while Val bit back a smile, trying to remain looking angry. Will just shook his head, obviously not really caring about that exam. Arran also smiled, glad to have her friends back.

* * *

Arran was in Defense when she realized her two friend groups had never meet. Octavia and Arran hung out in Muggle Studies and on prefect patrols, but Octavia had never hung out with Val, Will, and Regulus. The only time the two had ever interacted was when Reg had briefly meet on the train. She had never had two different sides to her friends, only ever hanging out with Slytherins, but Arran realized that she wanted to hang out with both Octavia and Valarie and the others. She knew that they would get along, especially Val and Octavia, so Arran decided it was high time to introduce the Hufflepuff to her snaky friends. And she had the perfect excuse.

"We should do something special tonight," Arran announced as they left Defense, heading for lunch. "It's Val's birthday and we should celebrate."

Regulus looked at her as if she were crazy, which she might be, and said, "Do you know how much review work we have to do? The professors are piling it on. Just today we have three essays to write and we're only half way through the day!"

"I'm with Arran this time," Will admitted. Val and Reg both turned to look at him in surprise as he continued, "We need a break and this could be the last time we'll be able to afford one. What have you got, Arran?"

She grinned, "How about you guys meet me down in the kitchens at dinner?" Started down a different corridor, she added, "I'll see you later, I've got a badger to catch."

Arran hurried down the stairs as she headed to the History of Magic classroom. She knew which class Octavia had and wanted to catch her before she was already in the Great Hall. Just as she turned the corner, having gone a different route to intercept the leaving Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Catching sight of the brown haired Hufflepuff, Arran hurried over. Octavia couldn't even respond before Arran had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the stream of traffic.

"Hey! Jeesh, what was that for?" Octavia exclaimed, rubbing at her arm.

Arran winced, "Sorry, didn't mean to pull too hard." Then, remembering why she was there, she turned excited, "It's one of my friends birthday soon and we are going to celebrate in the kitchens tonight. I want you to come. You can meet Regulus, Val, and Will."

"Are you sure about this?" Octavia questioned, nervous. "Your friends might not like me butting in, especially if you guys are celebrating a birthday."

"It'll be fine," Arran assured her. "They'll love you, I'm positive."

Rolling her eyes at Arran, Octavia grudgingly gave assent that she would be there, before hurrying back to her friends. Arran was smiling all the way down to the Great Hall, happy that her friends would finally get to meet.

* * *

The last classes of the day had passed quickly, and soon Arran was heading down to the kitchens with Octavia. Assuming her Slytherin friends weren't late, they should already be there.

"Are you sure you're sure about this?" Octavia asked. "I'm not really the type to jump head first into a snake pit, if you know what I mean."

Arran chuckled, "See, that's exactly why they'll like you. Come on, we're already here anyway."

Approaching the painting, Arran leaned down and tickled the pear which laughed and turned into a doorknob. Looking back at Octavia, she expected the Hufflepuff to be surprised at the fact that the kitchens were hidden behind a painting, but to _her_ surprise, Octavia just looked smug.

"You know," she said, drawing out her words. "The Hufflepuffs are shown the kitchens as part of their tour of the castle first year."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Arran asked carefully, "What do you mean 'tour of the castle'?"

Octavia simply smirked and walked past her bemused friend and entered the kitchen. Arran quickly followed behind, despite her confidence that Octavia would get along with her friends, she also didn't want her only Hufflepuff friend to get eaten by a snake.

Inside of the kitchens, Will, Regulus, and Valarie were all siting at the Slytherin table. Octavia approached with Arran close beside her and she called out to her friends.

"Hey!" Arran called, causing her the Slytherins to look up. "I'd like you to meet someone. Octavia this is Regulus Black, William Shafiq, and Valarie Greengrass. Guys, this is Octavia Hall."

The three Slytherins observed Octavia as she made her way closer, "Hi, it's nice to meet you guys. I've heard a lot about you from Arran."

Valarie looked at the Hufflepuff before turning to Arran, "Is this your way of saying you prefer women, because I feel I've been missing out."

Octavia looked startled, but couldn't say anything before Regulus spoke up, adding in his own piece.

"Arran, I knew you liked different, but really you did good. Cute Hufflepuffs that can put up with you are quite a rarity." A smirk was on his face as he said this.

"You know," Will said, turning to Regulus and contributing to Arran's embarrassment. "This really isn't that surprising. What I'm surprised about is that she and Val didn't get together, there were all those rumors last semester."

Arran glared at her three best friends while Octavia, Will, and Regulus burst out laughing and Val raised her eyebrows at the boys, a smile also appearing on her lips.

"You know what I can't believe?" Arran snapped. "Is how I ended up with such bastards for friends."

They all laughed and Octavia moved to the table, sitting down beside Valarie. Arran narrowed her eyes, but followed Octavia over, sitting on Val's other side. Will smiled and offered his hand to Octavia.

"So, now that we have an insider Hufflepuff," he asked, a charming, but devious smile on his face. "You can tell us what you Puffers are really growing down there, because I know it's not Herbology plants."

Octavia smirked, "You'll never know."

They laughed before starting into the food already laid out on the table. They were having some of Valarie's favorites in honor of her birthday, but there were still plenty of options and the house elves had, as usual, out done themselves. By the time they had all finished, their plates were clean and their bellies full. Arran had been right, Octavia and Val had hit it off immediately, and Will and Regulus had also gotten along with her well too. Arran just hoped this new found friendship lasted the next few years.

* * *

**Sirius's POV**

Sirius made his way down the corridor that morning, his head down and shoulders hunched. Since last weekend, he hadn't talked to the other Marauders, had gone to classes alone and had worked alone. He would never admit it, but he knew deep down the silence between them was deserved. What he had done to Remus, to Snivellus. It was too far, and he had known that when he had hissed the words to Snape, telling him how to get under the Willow. Even still, he hadn't stopped, hadn't considered how Mooney would feel about it, what Mooney might have done, had James not intervened. After James had gotten Snape to Dumbledore and Sirius had been called up, he hadn't spoken to anyone, afraid he would just make it worse. None of the other Gryffindors had spoken to him either, picking up on the animosity between the once close Marauders. He assumed they either knew or could guess. James, at least, had probably told Evans, an effect of him finally getting her on a date. So, Sirius walked to classes early, avoided breakfast, and didn't talk to anyone in class or out. The teachers had probably noticed, but so far had said nothing-testament to their loyalty to Dumbledore, no doubt.

Sirius had just reached the last corner to the Defense classroom when someone turned the corridor, running into him. They both stumbled back, stunned. Looking up, Sirius looked into identical gray eyes. Regulus. He hadn't talked to his brother in years, not really. Just taunts tossed across the hallway or Great Hall, but those didn't count as talking. In every instance, there had been someone else there: the Marauder's, Snape's sister, their respective classmates, never alone. Now, the corridor was empty except for his brother and himself.

For the first time since he had started Hogwarts, Sirius looked at his brother. Maybe it was his lingering guilt for what he did to Snape, a sub-conscious wanting to make amends, but whatever it was it made him look at Regulus. His brother was as tall as Sirius himself, lean, but not as stocky as Sirius. His gray eyes were the same as Sirius's, but the black hair wasn't the same wavy locks Sirius sported. It was short, cut just below the ears, and straight, none of the Black waves that were found on their mother's side. In a shocking realization, Sirius realized Regulus looked like their father. Younger, not as...cold, not yet at least, but the posture and looks were there.

Sirius was interrupted from his thoughts when his brother murmured, "Excuse me." and pushed past Sirius to the staircase.

He couldn't find anything to say, so he stayed silent, for once, and watched Regulus's retreating figure. Shaking his head, Sirius headed back for the classroom. He was losing his mind, thinking about Regulus. His brother was a Death Eater, or would be one soon, and there was no going back.

* * *

**AN:**

**Long time no see, it's good to be back. I'm so sorry it took me this long to get the chapter up, I had a bad case of writers block that was entirely my fault. When I first thought up this story, I planned out so much of the big events that will happen and I got a little carried away trying to make everything happen when I wanted it to that I suddenly realized it didn't work at all. I also didn't like the last chapter and thought it was forced, but couldn't think of something else that would work, so I was trying to make the story still sound good and fit with what I wanted to happen with the last chapter being less than I would have wanted. All in all, this is a lot of excuses, so I want to apologize again. School has started up again and while it may seem counter-productive, I feel I'll be on more of a schedule in the coming months, so I should be updating soonish.**

**Note: The Muggle Studies OWL may sound weird, but I'm basing it off of muggle tests seeing as its a muggle class. I've had classes where I research something before the final test time and so that is what I'm basing it off of. Basically, there will be the normal test along with a "practical" that involves each student presenting a topic they have researched. I hope that makes sense if you were confused.**

**All reviews are welcome! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

Arran stepped into the common room and immediately headed up to the Loft. Her bag was heavy as she stepped up the stairs and found a place among the empty desks. The last class of the day had just ended and she was one of the first back to the common room. Her friends were all finishing up a Creatures class down by the forest and Arran had left the library for a change of scenery. She had just taken out her half-completed essay for Charms when her brother pulled up a chair to her table.

"Do you know?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet despite the mostly empty common room.

Arran scowled. "Gee, it's good to see you. How have you been? Still alive under all the homework?"

At Sev's lack of response, Arran sighed, "I guess I got all the manner genes, huh. Now, start again. Do I know what?"

"Do you know about Lupin? And the other Marauders?" Sev asked, leaning forward in his seat. "You can't have not noticed."

Raising an eyebrow, Arran smirked back, "Is Lupin shagging Black and Potter in the broom closets? I didn't take you for a gossip, bother dear."

This time, Sev scowled, crossing his arms he glared at her, "Stop messing around and answer the question. Do you know Lupin's secret?"

"Of course I do, I'm not an idiot. The boy has a 'furry little problem'. I'd be surprised if the entire school didn't know after six years."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "It's no joking matter, Arran! He's dangerous, a monster. We should go to Slughorn or even Dumbledore! He should be expelled!"

"Wow, we aren't going to anyone," Arran snapped, opening her Charms book up to their current chapter. "Lupin isn't dangerous except for one night a month. There are plenty of other students who are just as dangerous all month long. Not to mention, Dumbledore probably already knows because he admitted Lupin into Hogwarts."

Sev winced at Arran's pointed glare. They had made up, but Arran was still upset about his graduation plans. For years, she and her friends had discussed the idiots and evils that practiced blood superiority. Now, not only was her brother choosing to join up with a supremacists, but her best friend was being forced to join on pain of death, or worse. The muggle world might have the monopoly on bigots and bastards as she knew from muggle primary school, but the wizarding world had their fair share.

Arran looked up from her essay when she heard a chair scraping against the ground. Watching as her brother walked away, his robes swirling around his ankles, she wondered when he had changed. She remembered when they were little and he stood up to their parents to protect her or took the blame for her accidental magic. He'd always cared for her as much as he could and now he was becoming someone she didn't want to be cared for by. Sighing, she turned back to her homework assignment. It would do no good to dwell on things she could change and her brother had made his bed. He now had to lie in it.

* * *

Arran was joined later by Regulus, Val, and Will. By the time they had started homework, Arran had finished her Charms essay along with the Runes worksheets they were assigned. All of the teachers had stepped up the workload on the 5th years as OWLs approached and the four Slytherins made up a homework marathon across the tabletop. Regulus and Arran were working on their Arithmancy, Will on the Defense essay, and Val was just starting the Transfiguration essay due the next day. The four friends could see their housemates returning from the last classes of the day; many 7th years and the remaining 5th years joining them in studying across the Loft. Still, Arran was surprised when a group of upperclassmen approached them.

It wasn't the same group of wannabe Death Eaters, though there were cross-overs, and consisted of Evan Rosier, Ava Fawley, Fay Parkinson, David Fawley, and Calvin Greengrass. They settled into the tables around Arran and her friends and seemed to be looking directly at Regulus.

"Hey Black, did you here about the Marauders?" Fay Parkinson asked. She was one of the 6th year prefects and had always leaned toward the Death Eater crowd, though not in terms of joining them herself.

Regulus's eyes narrowed at the mention of his brother's friends and Arran put a hand on his arm. She didn't want him to get into a fight in the common room, even if there was no way he'd be beaten, and Sirius had always been able to get under Regulus's skin like few others.

"I don't know what you are talking about, and I don't care to," Regulus responded, his voice strained with annoyance. He turned back to the Arithmancy problems as if trying to ignore their fellow Slytherins.

Evan leaned forward, "The rumour mill is in upheaval about them. Apparently, the Marauders have split up. Your brother hasn't been seen with Potter, Lupin, or Pettrigrew in almost a week. Do you know what happened, Black?"

Regulus's hand tightened on his quill as the others started to add what they'd heard to the story. Arran hadn't noticed anything different about the notorious Marauders this week, but then again that should have been a clear sign that something was up. The Marauders almost never let a week go by with nothing exploding or changing or smoking. Not wanting to upset Regulus so soon after they'd made up, Arran said nothing and turned back to Arithmancy, though she kept listening to the conversation.

"I heard Black slept with Evans, so Potter's shunning him," David Fawley, Ava's older brother, added. "Everyone knows Potter has been chasing after her forever."

Calvin leaned forward, "Potter and Evans just started dating though. And we would've known if Potter was shunning Evans as well as Black. It has to be something else, right?"

"You sure you haven't heard anything?" Evan asked again, directing it at the whole group, though he was still staring at Regulus.

"I don't pay attention to Sirius," Regulus finally answered through clenched teeth. Standing, he pulled his Arithmancy into his bag and pushed back his chair. "Arran, let's go finish this in the Library, where its quiet."

Arran nodded and gathered her things as well, before saying goodbye to Val and Will. She stepped out of the common room and joined Regulus, who had been leaning against the stone wall waiting. The two set off in silence through the halls. It was just barely February and the weather had yet to warm up, so the halls were chilly, especially in the dungeons. The cold seemed to seep from the walls and most students chose to study in the warm common rooms or the Library this time of year. Dinner wouldn't start for another hour and the halls were empty of students.

Deciding that since they were alone, Regulus had less people to lash out at, Arran broke the silence, "Are you okay? I know you don't like talking about Sirius."

Regulus ran a hand through his hair, rumpling it up in a way that made him look like he'd just gotten off his broomstick, before replying. "I don't know...Sirius, he's...I ran into him, a couple days ago. He was alone, just walking the halls, and it was weird. He looked like he'd seen a ghost when he saw me. I don't know about the rumours going around, but something's up."

"Are you sure it's not just what happened over the summer?" Arran asked, looking up at her friend. She didn't have the exact details of what had happened last summer, just the summary, but she knew that Sirius had run away, leading to Regulus being forced to join the Death Eaters.

Regulus frowned, thinking. "I don't think so...Sirius left because Mother and Bellatrix wanted him to join the Death Eaters. He refused and when Mother tried to force him he left for the Potters'. After that, nothing happened that Sirius would know about other than his disinheritance."

Arran pursed her lips, "It has to be something else then...maybe they argued over Winter Break or something."

Regulus shook his head and gave a small smile, "I don't know what happened between them, but trying to understand and get along with my brother has to be a challenge for anyone, even Potter."

The two entered the Library, moving between the tall shelves of books toward one of the quieter sections. With all the classes let out for the day and the weather reducing the amount of studying spots on campus, the Library was especially crowded. As they emerged from between two bookshelves to their preferred table, Arran and Regulus stopped short. Sitting at one of the three tables in the corner were the Marauders, or at least three of them.

In her five and half years at Hogwarts, Arran had rarely run into any of them at the Library, and when she did it was either Lupin or Pettrigrew. She hadn't even know Potter or Sirius to have known where it was, but here James Potter was. He was sitting with Pettigrew, Lupin, and Lily at the table closest to the lone window. The Gryffindors looked up and their eyes widened to meet the two Slytherins' surprised gazes.

Lily was the first to speak, meeting Arran's gaze, "Arran, Black, something we can do for you?"

Regulus had stiffened seeing Potter and Arran glanced at him, opening her mouth to suggest they leave, before he cut her off. "No, Evans, we're just here to study like you."

He moved to the table farthest from them, taking a seat and setting out his parchment and textbook. Raising an eyebrow, Arran took the seat next to him and pulled out her half-completed worksheet as well. She hadn't expected Regulus to be fine sitting in the same vicinity as James Potter, but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. Regulus hated to show emotion or weakness and his dislike for Potter would have qualified. They had just started on the next problem when footsteps were heard from the bookshelves. Arran looked up just in time to see Sirius Black round the corner, his bag slung over his shoulder. It was the first time she'd seen him since everything that had happened between the once close Marauders and she knew immediately that the rumours of something separating the four Gryffindors had to be true. Black was known for his charm and ladies-man attitude, but now he looked less classically disheveled and more...out of sorts than usual. His shirt was off buttoned by one, causing the collar to look weird, and he wasn't even wearing the tie, though he was wearing the gray vest of the Hogwarts uniform. His hair, notoriously Sirius Black's most prized possession, was messy and looked like it had seen better days. All of this was noticed before he opened his mouth.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sirius said, obvious laughter rising in his voice.

Despite herself, Arran could see the irony. Beside her, Regulus was obviously regretting his life's choices and probably wondering why he had decided to sit down. Across from them, all the Gryffindors were glaring at their ex-friend, with the exception of Lupin who was staring down at his work with a strange look on his face.

Arran decided to do them all a favor and said with a smirk, "I didn't know you knew where the Library even was, Black. Please tell me you got directions from a first year, it'd make my day."

Sirius, who had been starting at Potter, now directed his gaze to Arran and Regulus. "I hate to disappoint you Snape, but I know many of the secrets of the castle, not the least of which is how to get to the Library. Besides, if I'd known what I'd find here, I would have stayed far, far away." He glanced between his former Marauders and his estranged brother before muttering, "This has to be hell."

Arran's smirk grew, though she knew he hadn't meant for her to hear, and she chanced a glance at Regulus to her left. He expression was closed off. No emotion displayed across his features, so similar to the brother across the hall now that they were older. Only someone who knew him as well as Arran did could see the slight tension in his arms and the the anger and bitterness that swirled in his grey eyes. Reading the anger the Gryffindors showed across their faces, Arran decided it would be best to leave and avoid any spells that could come from Sirius or Potter. With a sweep of her hand, she collected her and Regulus's work and shoved it into her bag, before standing.

"I think we'd better get back to the common room, Val and Will wanted to go over Defense before dinner," Arran said to Regulus, pulling him toward Sirius and the exit of the nook.

Sirius glared as they passed, but didn't comment and they managed to leave before any explosions happened, to Arran's relief. Rising voices could be heard as they headed toward the Library's entrance and Arran didn't doubt that Madam Pince would soon be before the Marauders. To her surprise, footsteps followed behind them and turning around, Arran was face to face with bright, emerald green eyes. This day was just getting better and better.

Lily at least looked a little uncomfortable as she said, "Arran, I was...well, I was wondering how you and Sev were? I didn't see you guys over the summer or over break and with everything that happened last year...I just..." Seeing the slightly confused and slightly angry expression on Arran's face, she quickly added,"I should just go, I'll see you later."

Regulus turned to meet Arran's gaze as she watched the redhead dissapear back where they'd come. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not really," she sighed. "Let's just say you'll see Sev more outside of school."

Regulus gave her a small grimice as he realized the weight of her words. To her surprise, he pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Regulus had never been a touchy person and even then it was always with just their friends around.

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you." He murmured into her hair.

Arran felt a soft smile grow across her face as she put her head against his shoulder, "Likewise."

* * *

The next day was much more pleasant than the previous. Arran spent the first half of the day with Val and Octavia in the Library. The three girls had begun to hand out together ever since Val's birthday when Octavia and she had met. Today, Octavia and Arran were working on their Muggle Studies project while Val gossiped and caught them up on the various rumours going around Hogwarts.

Val leaned forward toward Arran, a smirk already in place as she asked, "So Arran, how's Evan doing these days? I don't think you've mentioned him once since before Winter Break."

Octavia raised an eyebrow at Arran. "Wait, you're going out with Evan Rosier? How come this is the first I'm hearing of this?"

Arran sighed and paused her work, turning to the conversation at hand. The truth was, Arran hadn't really talked to Evan since Break. They'd exchanged greetings in the common room, but hadn't really discussed anything of importance. Even with the Valentine's Hogsmead trip coming up, neither had asked each other if they were going or not. With everything that had been going on with OWLs, Sev, Regulus, and everything else, there hadn't been time to go on any dates or hang out.

"We haven't really talked since break," she admitted to her friends. "I've been to busy...to be honest, I don't really think anything else is going to happen between us. The date was nice and I enjoyed hanging out with him, but it kind of felt like I was with a friend, not someone more. I don't know."

Val shook her head, "I expected this. You and Evan just aren't matched right. Plus with all the tension outside of school, I don't think you would have lasted anyway."

Confused, Octavia looked between us. "I'm not one to usually miss stuff, but what are you guys talking about?"

"The Death Eaters, of course," Val said, as if she was just notifying them of the weather. "The political party that is aiming to rid the world of muggleborns and conquer muggles. Really, I though you knew this."

"I know about them, yeah," Octavia rolled her eyes. "Hufflepuffs may be in the basement, but we're not under a rock. I was just wondering how that could affect Arran and Rosier's relationship."

Arran sighed and lowered her voice. The Library was mostly empty, since most students had a class, but this was a delicate topic. "Despite what most of the school thinks, the Slytherins are really divided on the Death Eaters. Some, like us, are against them and pureblood superiority. The majority of the house is with them, but there is still a fair amount that don't want anything to do with You-Know-Who and his lot. Some have muggleborn friends or parents or just don't believe in that stuff. Others just want to remain neutral and get out of this alive. Anyway, the Rosiers are commonly said to be with You-Know-Who. Supposedly, Evan's father and grandfather are both Death Eaters. It's most likely that he'll join up after graduation, seeing as he's been hanging out with the recruits."

Octavia's eyes were wide as she listened, "So, if he's part of this Dark family, why did you go out with him in the first place?"

"It's hard to separate things sometimes, especially when you're surrounded by it everyday. Plus, when he first asked me out, he was still pretty neutral. I'm guessing he got ordered to join over Winter Break. His parents were really insistent on him going home." Arran shrugged.

It was hard to explain the intricacies of Slytherin to an outsider, but Octavia seemed to get it. Wanting to change the subject, Arran turned toward Val.

"What about you? The big Hogsmead trip is coming up. I expected you to be talking about this a month ago."

Val groaned, and leaned back. "Can't you interrogate Octavia? I don't have any plans, so it's not even really exciting."

"I'll get to Octavia after you," Arran replied, smirking when the Hufflepuff ducked her head. "And I didn't ask it you had any plans. I want to know if you want to go with someone."

"I don't," Val said, avoiding Arran's gaze.

"You're a terrible liar."

"And you're an annoying friend."

Rolling her eyes, Arran turned to Octavia, knowing she wouldn't get anything out of Val. The Greengrass was a horrible liar, but very good at keeping secrets and not accidentally saying something.

The Hufflepuff raiser her hands in a surrender gesture. "Don't look at me. I haven't gone on a date to Hogsmead since 3rd year."

Arran sighed, and the three girls met each others' eyes before bursting into laughter.

"We should go to Hogsmead together then! Girls trip only," Val said between her giggles. "It'll be fun. And it'll piss of Regulus and Will, which is always a plus."

"I'm in," Octavia said. "Sounds fun. Plus, all my other friends have partners they're going with."

Both looked to Arran. "Alright, fine. Better than staying in the castle for another day of studying," she conceded with a small smile.

Arran turned back to their project, her smile becoming genuine. It would be fun to spend the day with Val and Octavia and it would give them a nice break from all the work that they'd been doing. Still, Arran couldn't help but think how long this would last. In less than two and a half years they would be part of the world outside of Hogwarts. Things were already bad, and two years was a long time for them to get worse.

* * *

**AN:**

**I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, things have been crazy for me. I recently moved in the middle of the school year and had to get used to my new house and school. Not to mention I looked back on my previous plans for this story and was severely overwhelmed. I feel the inspiration coming back, but I definitely am going to go through and re-plan many of the events that happen between now and Arran's graduation. The crazy stuff that's been happening with COVID-19 is changing a lot of things for me, but it will also give me more time to write (hopefully). I'll try to get another chapter written by next week!**

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! You guys have been great! As always any comments or suggestions are welcome and I'm happy to answer any questions!**


	14. Chapter 14

The Valentine's Day Hogsmead trip ended with laughter and teasing. The three girls had spent the trip as they normally did: getting sweets from Honeydukes, looking at books from Tomes and Scrolls, restocking any school supplies they needed from the other stores, and ending with hot butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks. However, with both Val and Octavia there, Arran was forced to also spend two hours in Gladrags' looking at the various new fashions and dress robes. Arran wasn't one for dressing up, and preferred pants to dresses and skirts, but her friends had coerced her into going as a part of the Girls Trip. In the end, they'd been some of the last students in Hogsmead and had dinner in the kitchens instead of the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, as February came to an end, so did the enjoyable times end for 5th and 7th years. By the beginning of March, the teachers had realized that OWLs were right around the corner and began piling on more homework and essays. Most nights, Arran holed up in the common room or the Library with Regulus, Val, Will, and sometimes Octavia, working through the masses of assignments. The added duty of prefect patrols was not a welcome one and Arran often collapsed into bed late at night dreading the morning. By the beginning of April, Arran was at the end of her string.

Plopping down into a chair in the Library, once again, Arran let out a sigh. Regulus joined her, sitting down in the chair to her right with a growing smirk on his face. Out of all of them, Regulus was, surprisingly, the least stressed.

"Two and a half months, Arran," he said, pulling out the Runes textbook and essay they had just been assigned. "Then we'll be done for another two and a half months. I don't know why this is getting to you so much. It's the same it is every year. Exams, then summer, then September. Rinse and repeat, as you say."

Arran scowled at him and retorted, "It's not the same though! The exams are important. They basically decide our future. And don't give me that crap about how NEWTs will be much more important. If we don't pass our OWLs we can't even continue to NEWT level! How are you not stressing out?"

Regulus shrugged, to Arran's annoyance, "I don't know. I know they're important and I want to do well on them, but I know if I stress out now, then I'll just blank on the test. It's more productive for me to study the material we're reviewing for class, then do a quick review the day before the actual exam," giving her a full smirk, he added, "You're starting to sound like a Ravenclaw, you know. All this 'they decide our future' stuff."

Arran shoved his shoulder, "Haven't you seen the stuff on the board in the common room. We're going to meet with Slughorn for Career advice this week!"

"Do you know what you want to do yet?" Regulus asked, laughing at her hysterics. "You've got more time then me, mine's tomorrow."

Shaking her head, Arran took out her textbook as well, "Not really. There are a lot of paths I could go with. Masteries, Ministry job, Curse Breaker. I probably even have the grades for Healer, but I don't know if any of them fit right, you know. What about you?"

To her surprise, Regulus turned toward the window by their table, looking out on the Forbidden Forest before answering, "It doesn't even matter. Even if I got the grades and were accepted, my parents would never allow me to be one. Plus, with my...extracurriculars, I definitely wouldn't be able to."

Arran frowned and leaned toward him. Regulus didn't usually bring up the Death Eaters or his parents often. "What do you want to do, Regulus?"

"It was only a dream," Regulus admitted, turning back to their table and homework. "I just always wanted to be an Auror. Kind of ironic considering I'm now exactly who I would've been fighting against."

Arran stared at Regulus as he bent over the Runes textbook. They had talked about their favorite classes before and Regulus had always said Defense was one of his, but she'd never realized that he had wanted to make a career from it. Arran felt anger and sadness that Regulus's dream had been impossible before he'd even had a chance to really want it. The Death Eaters were the opposite of Aurors and from what she had heard of Walburga Black, she wouldn't have allowed it anyway. Arran placed a hand on his shoulder for a second before turning back to the work at hand.

They worked on Runes and then Transfiguration before heading to the Great Hall for dinner. Val and Will were already sitting at the Slytherin table when they arrived and the four friends enjoyed the dinner, and break, together before heading to the common room for another round homework.

Later on in the week, Arran left Charms early in order to arrive for her Career counseling early. As she waited outside Slughorn's office, Arran paced the hallway. She didn't need to worry about not having the grades for anything. She was doing exemplary in all her classes, but she couldn't shake the feeling of being lost at sea. She didn't have dreams or plans like her friends did. Octavia had shared that she was planning to be a Healer. Val was going to go into journalism and Will had said his father wanted him to go into any of the Ministry's many departments. Regulus had said he would do something similar, since being an Auror was out of the question. Even her brother had more plans than her for once. Sev had told her last year that he was planning on pursuing a Potions mastery. Yet despite her good grades, Arran was at a loss.

She was interrupted from her musings when the door opened and Will emerged from behind.

"Hey," Will said, walking over to her. "You next?"

Arran nodded, wringing her hands as she stopped her pacing.

Will placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry. You don't have to have a set plan today. It can always change, you know."

Slughorn called her in from his office and Arran nodded, giving Will a quick thanks before stepping inside and closing the door.

"Ah, Miss Snape, wonderful to see you, my dear," Slughorn said from behind his desk. Before him were a stack of papers, no doubt her academic records. "Please take a seat. Now, I know your brother has decided on a Potions Mastery, and you would undoubtedly do well in that as well, but did you have any ideas on your plans for after graduation?"

Arran shook her head, folding her hands in her lap, "No, sir. I have so many interests and classes I don't really know what to focus in on."

"Not to worry, not worry. You can always change your plans after your graduation as long as you don't narrow down your classes," he shuffled some of the papers around before continuing. "You have excellent grades in all your classes, averaging mostly O's with E's in Herbology and Arithmancy. Have you considered Curse Breaking or Healing? Your Arithmancy and Runes are both on track to be a good applicant for Curse Breaking and with your Potions and Charms grades, Healing wouldn't be a far reach either."

"I thought of those, but I don't think they're right for me. Curse Breaking would be enjoyable, but I would have a hard time with the Goblins. For Healing, I don't think I could handle the patients well enough."

"I see, well, there are other options, of course. You have the grades and recommendations to do Masteries in Charms, Transfiguration, or Potions. With your Defense grade you could also be a strong applicant for the Auror program if you so choose. And the ministry has many departments that you would excel at. I could even see you getting into the Department of Mysteries with your achievements."

"I'll think about those, sir, thank you," Arran replied, her mind running in circles. She honestly had never considered Auror as a career and immediately struck it from her list. With both Sev and Regulus as Death Eaters, she wouldn't want to actively fight against them. An Unspeakable was also likely out of the question. She wouldn't want to keep that many secrets from her family, cold as they were at times.

Slughorn gave her a small smile, "Well since you don't have a chosen career, I would suggest only dropping class you aren't interested in or are uncommon or not needed for most careers. Astronomy and History of Magic would be my first suggestions. Muggle Studies is also not needed for the majority of careers."

Straitening, Arran said, "I'd like to continue History of Magic, along with Astronomy, but Muggle Studies I'll drop. Do you know if there will be an Alchemy class next year, sir?"

"Unfortunately, that class is still discontinued, but I'll make those changes for your class list in the meantime. Is there anything else you might have questions about, my dear?"

Shaking her head, Arran stood and left the office. Lunch would have started by now and the morning classes let out. Deciding that she could forgo lunch, Arran headed up the stairs, making her way to the Astronomy tower. She didn't go there much if it wasn't for classes, but with no Astronomy class during the day and lunch starting, it would be quiet.

Arran had countless thoughts running through her head as she looked out over the castle grounds. Graduation was looming despite being more than two years away. By the time she got out of school whatever going on outside of Hogwarts would be very real. It was easy to ignore it sometimes. Yes, Regulus and Sev both had the mark, but it wasn't like You-Know-Who was summoning them from the Slytherin Common Room. The school uniform require long sleeves and with both of them having expressionless masks most of the time, it wasn't like she was reminded of it often. Arran didn't talk to many Slytherins outside of her friends and her only connection outside of Slytherin was with Octavia, and it wasn't like the Hufflepuffs were having hushed conversations about the war going on. Arran suspected the Gryffindors were all planning how to fight against the Death Eaters come graduation as much as most of the Slytherins were planning how to join up.

With a sigh, Arran turned to go. Her friends would be wondering where she was and if she didn't show up for her afternoon classes, they would start to worry. She was just about to leave, when the door banged open revealing James Potter. He started when he saw her, but to her relief didn't draw his wand. Avoiding the school bully was high on Arran's list, so she ignored him and moved to leave. Just as she was about to go down the stairs, he spoke.

"Why do you hate me?"

Arran scoffed, "Are you really asking me that? Gee, I wonder. Maybe its all the times you've cursed or hexed me and my brother."

"I know that, but...it wasn't to make you hate me...it's just like what we do with the rest of the school..."

"No, it's not. Look, Potter, maybe you didn't mean to make us hate you, but if that's the case, why did you do it?"

"That's the thing," he said, leaning over the railing. "I don't know why. I mean...your brother, I pranked because he's a Death Eater wanna be and is a horrible person. So,... I guess I just did the same to you because you're his sister."

Rolling her eyes, Arran glared at him, "I'm not the first person to tell you this, I'm sure, but what you do to Severus and other Slytherins is not a prank. It's an attack. You intentionally seek them out to hurt them because you don't like what they believe or you assume what the beliefs they hold are. Now, not all Slytherins are Death Eaters or supremacists, but you have seen their house and taken it as a symbol of their beliefs and personalities, so you hex and curse them because you believe yourself to be better. If all that's true, you're asking the wrong question."

There was silence for a moment and Arran was about to go when he asked, "What is the right question? Please, I know you don't have to tell me and I know you have no reason to, but I want to know."

Arran was silent. Thoughts were running through her head and she didn't know what to do. Potter had always been a bully, that much she knew to be true, but she also knew that between him and Sirius, he was the lesser of two evils. Sirius had hatred because of his family and their beliefs. Potter had hatred because of misguided views and a lack of outside influence. Finally, she said, "What makes you different from the Death Eaters?"

She turned around, not wanting to hear what Potter thought of her view point, but instead heading down the stairs. Class was about to start and she didn't have an actual excuse this time. Her foot on the next step, Arran turned around and looked back. Potter was leaning against the railing looking out across the grounds, his hair annoyingly tousled as always, and his uniform untidy and rumpled. She wondered, with a morbid fascination, what the war was going to do to him and the others in the school. Arran didn't even know what she wanted to do beyond the grounds of Hogwarts and didn't have a clue what her role would be in the conflict, but she knew that as much as she was going to be drawn into the coming darkness, there were many others who were facing the same, or worse, futures.

Turning, Arran's footsteps against the stone were the only sounds as she made her way out of the tower.

* * *

**Regulus's POV**

Regulus leaned back against the sofa in the Slytherin Common Room. It was late, no doubt past midnight by now, and the Commons was empty, everyone else tucked away in the dorms. Despite the weariness that had settled inside him hours ago, his mind refused to quite, the past day running on a constant loop through his thoughts. It seemed that, even though in the past four years they had only crossed paths a handful of times, he couldn't avoid his brother despite the change in familiar status that summer. Regulus had seen Sirius again that day, walking the halls during dinner. It wasn't the first time he had seen his brother acting differently this year. In fact, it seemed to be the status quo for the Gryffindor sixth year, but this was different. Unlike before, Regulus hadn't seen anything during the day to indicate that Sirius was on the outs with his friends again. The Marauders had been incredibly close that day, heads close together and more physical contact and knowing looks than usual. Despite this, Sirius wasn't his usual self.

It wasn't something most would see when faced with his brother, but Regulus was able to see the things that were different, because he'd been there when they first changed. As part of his protest against the Black family and pureblood custom, his brother often took to overly disregarding their lessons from childhood. He would slump, slouch, ignored table manners, and used more slang than any other pureblood, even other Light families.

When Regulus had seen his brother earlier that evening, it seemed his brother was distracted and discontent. He was stiff; straight back and chin up as their mother had taught them. His uniform was as rumpled and loose as always, but Regulus could see the lines in the shirt and pants that showed he hadn't changed out of yesterday's clothes. The slight crease of his brow. The storming of his eyes. The hands clasped behind his back. All of these pointed to something wrong. Something that was different from the way he had been sad earlier that year, without his friends.

They hadn't spoken. In fact, Regulus wasn't even sure that Sirius had known he was there, watching him as he passed by. Sirius had not been looking where he was going, instead aimlessly walking the halls alone. It made Regulus think further back to that summer, when Sirius had been full of righteous direction, not caring who was in his way or who was left in the dust.

When Sirius had left that summer, Regulus had watched as his brother left him behind. Now, he wasn't sure if that was still true. Now, he wasn't sure if Regulus himself had been left behind, or if somewhere along the way, he had left Sirius behind. Either way, he didn't know if all the maps in the world would be able to reconnect them before this conflict spilled their blood. The mark on his arm a constant reminder of what his brother had hated and what he tried to make their family see. Because as much as they refused to see it, both purebloods and muggleborns bled red.

* * *

**AN:**

**Hey everyone, here's another chapter! I'm so sorry for the wait, I had a really hard time writing this chapter (and the last few). I think I planned too many of the main events in the beginning and I am trying not to rush too much into them now, but don't know how to fill the chapters. Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out before the end of August (crossing my fingers). **

**As always thank you to all of you who followed and favorited, I'm glad you all are enjoying the story. Reviews are welcome!**

**P.S. Just wanted to add in that although this fanfiction is based on J.K. Rowling's books, this is a safe place for everyone and I don't condone what she said earlier in the year.**


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